CHAUTAUQUA 

LITERARY  Am>SaEN'TlFIC 
CIRCLE 


OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 


RICHARD     ;OY 


ity 


X  -i  01  %z^ 


THE  EARL  OF  SHAFTESBURY. 


Ten  English-  £±ggton 

f*       -  Stephenson 

men  or  the      "' 

Cobden 

Nineteenth      Peel 


Century 


Shaftesbury 
Palmerston 
Gladstone 
Disraeli 


BY 

JAMES  RICHARD  JOY,  M.  A. 

AUTHOR  OF 

'TWENTY  CENTURIES  OF  ENGLISH  HISTORY,"  "ROME 

AND  THE   MAKING  OF   MODERN   EUROPE," 

"A  HISTORY  OF  GREECE,"  ETC. 


NEW  YORK        CHAUTAUQUA        SPRINGFIELD        CHICAGO 

Cfje  CijautaitQu 

MCMII 


COPYRIGHT,  1902,  BY 
THE  CHAUTAUQUA  PRESS 


The  Lakeside  Press,  Chicago,  III.,  U.  S.  A. 
R.  R.  Donnelley  &  Sons  Company 


TO 
MY     DAUGHTER 

HELEN 

WITH  HER  FATHER'S  LOVE 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    ENGLAND  IN  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY  i 
II.    WELLINGTON,  AND  THE  STRUGGLE  WITH  NAPO- 
LEON 27 

III.  GEORGE  CANNING  AND  EUROPEAN  AFFAIRS  50 

IV.  STEPHENSON  AND  THE  RAILWAY  64 
V.    RUSSELL  AND  PARLIAMENTARY  REFORM  79 

VI.      COBDEN   AND   FREE   TRADE  93 

VII.    PEEL  AND  ADMINISTRATIVE  REFORMS  107 

VIII.    SHAFTESBURY  AND  PHILANTHROPY  -  122 

IX.    LORD  PALMERSTON  AND  FOREIGN  RELATIONS  134 

X.    GLADSTONE  AND  THE  IRISH  QUESTION  147 

XI.    BEACONSFIELD  AND  THE  BRITISH  EMPIRE  -      167 


APPENDIX 

I.  WELLINGTON  186 

II.  GEORGE  CANNING  195 

III.  GEORGE  STEPHENSON  199 

IV.  LORD  JOHN  RUSSELL     -  205 
V.  RICHARD  COBDEN  210 

VI.  SIR  ROBERT  PEEL  215 

VII.  LORD  SHAFTESBURY  219 

VIII.  LORD  PALMERSTON  230 

IX.  WILLIAM  EWART  GLADSTONE  245 

X.  LORD  BEACONSFIELD  253 


PREFACE 

The  object  of  this  work  is  to  set  forth  with  as  much 
clearness  as  possible  the  more  important  facts  in  the  his- 
tory of  England  in  the  nineteenth  century.  We  have 
chosen  to  do  this  through  the  medium  of  biography,  in 
the  belief  that  the  lives  of  a  few  representative  men  would 
present  better  opportunities  for  interesting  and  effective 
treatment  than  an  historical  narrative,  which  must  have 
been  encumbered  by  a  mass  of  detail  not  capable  of 
effective  disposition  within  the  limited  space  at  our  com- 
mand. An  introductory  chapter  serves  to  give  a  general 
view  of  the  course  of  events  and  to  show  the  relations  of 
the  men  and  movements  which  are  afterward  presented 
in  more  detail. 

With  but  one  exception  our  "Ten  Englishmen"  are 
men  in  public  life,  political  or  military.  Artists,  authors, 
preachers,  and  scholars  were  purposely  left  out  of  the 
account,  because  they  are  to  receive  prominence  in  other 
parts  of  the  course  for  which  this  volume  was  written. 
The  exception  was  made  in  the  case  of  George  Stephen- 
son,  because  the  revolution  in  transportation,  due  to  his 
improvement  of  the  locomotive  engine,  has  had  such  a 
powerful  influence  upon  the  industrial  development  of  the 
nation. 

In  bringing  these  great  personages  before  the  reader 
our  intention  has  been  quite  as  much  historical  as  bio- 
graphical. Each  name  is  linked  with  some  conspicuous 

vii 


Vlll 


Preface 


problem  in  statesmanship,  and  the  endeavor  has  been  to 
set  forth  the  work  as  well  as  the  workman.  It  is  hoped 
that  the  library  notes  appended  to  each  chapter  will  be  of 
assistance  to  the  earnest  student,  in  supplementing  the 
meager  outlines  of  this  volume  with  the  abundance  of 
personal  detail  and  wealth  of  dramatic  incident  which 
give  life  and  action  to  history. 

The  appendix  should  not  be  overlooked.  Its  selections 
from  authentic  speeches,  letters,  dispatches,  and  other 
writings  bring  the  reader  into  touch  with  the  men  who 
made  England  great. 

One  word  more.  Our  "Ten"  are  not  necessarily 
"The  Ten."  They  are  the  men  whose  lives  lay  in  line 
with  the  writer's  plan.  If  they  serve  to  accentuate  the 
leading  features  of  the  history  we  are  not  disposed  to  argue 
with  those  who  would  present  other  candidates  for  the 
honor  of  inclusion  in  the  list. 

JAMES  RICHARD  JOY. 

PLAINFIELD,  N.  J.,  June  4,  1902. 


TEN   ENGLISHMEN   OF  THE 
NINETEENTH  CENTURY 


I 

INTRODUCTION 

ENGLAND   IN  THE   NINETEENTH   CENTURY 

The  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  found  England 
in  the  midst  of  a  great  foreign  war,  which  for  almost  a 
generation  absorbed  the  thought  and  energy  of  the  nation, 
and  postponed  for  the  time  the  vital  questions  of  economic 
and  political  reform  which  clamored  for  settlement. 

THE   STRUGGLE   WITH   NAPOLEON 

The  war  began  in  1793,  when  the  French  nation,  hav- 
ing overturned  its  ancient  throne,  and  revolutionized  its 
social  and  political  institutions,  set  out  on  a  democratic 
crusade  for  "Liberty,  Equality,  and  Fraternity,"  which 
involved  it  in  a  conflict  with  the  governments  of  Europe. 
William  Pitt,  who  had  been  Prime  Minister  of  George 
III.  since  1783,  had  twice  banded  the  European  states 
against  the  French  republican  armies;  but  while  the  Eng- 
lish fleets  remained  masters  of  the  seas,  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  French  soldiers,  and  the  genius  of  their  young  generals, 
had  thus  far  proved  too  strong  for  the  mercenary  battalions 
of  despotism.  In  the  closing  month  of  the  year  1800, 


2  Ten  Englishmen 

Pitt's  "Second  Coalition"  had  been  shattered  by  the 
defeat  of  the  Allies  at  Hohenlinden.  The  Peace  of 
Amiens  which  shortly  ensued  (March,  1802,  to  May, 
1803)  was  but  a  delusion.  England  greeted  it  with  joy 
and  hope,  but  soon  discovered  its  unreality.  From  the 
renewal  of  hostilities,  in  May,  1803,  until  the  final  triumph 
of  the  Allies,  in  1815,  the  war  resolved  itself  into  a  strug- 
gle between  Napoleon  and  England.  This  young  Cor- 
sican  lieutenant  had  raised  himself  by  sheer  force  of 
genius  and  unscrupulous  ambition  to  absolute  power.  His 
scheme  for  the  subjugation  of  Europe  beat  down  every 
obstacle  except  the  steady  and  unbending  opposition  of 
England.  Pitt,  who  had  withdrawn  from  the  government 
because  of  the  stupid  King's  refusal  to  honor  his  Minister's 
pledges  of  equal  rights  to  the  Irish  Catholics,  was  recalled 
by  the  universal  voice  of  the  nation  to  organize  the  resist- 
ance. Napoleon  had  assembled  immense  armaments  upon 
the  Channel  coast  of  France  for  a  descent  on  England,  and 
had  created  a  vast  flotilla  to  transport  the  force  to  Kent. 
Great  Britain  trembled  with  excited  apprehension.  Three 
hundred  thousand  volunteers  offered  their  services  to  the 
government.  But,  as  often  in  the  past,  Britain's  best 
defense  was  her  wooden  walls,  and  the  sagacity,  seaman- 
ship, and  valor  of  her  sailors,  who  out-manceuvered  the 
combined  fleets  of  France  and  Spain,  crushed  their  power 
at  Trafalgar  (October,  1805),  and  secured  the  Channel 
against  the  invader.  Pitt's  gold  had  called  into  existence 
a  Third  Coalition  (England,  Russia,  Austria,  and  Sweden), 
only  to  see  Napoleon  hurl  it  to  the  ground  on  the  field  of 
Austerlitz  (December,  1805).  England's  isolation  seemed 
as  complete  as  the  Emperor's  victory.  Russia,  Austria, 
and  Prussia  made  humiliating  peace  with,  the  victor,  who 


Introduction  3 

carved  his  conquests  into  new  states  and  kingdoms.  Pitt, 
who,  at  the  news  of  Austerlitz,  had  pointed  to  the  map  of 
Europe  with  the  words  "Roll  up  that  map,  there  will  be 
no  use  for  it  these  ten  years,"  survived  the  calamity 
scarcely  a  month. 

Unable  to  meet,  as  yet,  the  English  troops  in  battle  on 
the  land  as  he  had  met  and  defeated  those  of  the  Conti- 
nent, and  unequal  to  England  on  the  seas,  Napoleon 
devised  a  more  insidious  plan  of  campaign.  Believing 
that  a  "nation  of  shop-keepers"  might  be  attacked  through 
its  trade,  he  issued  from  the  Prussian  capital,  in  1806,  the 
famous  Berlin  Decree,  which  was  the  first  note  of  that 
"Continental  System,"  which  was  intended  to  close  the 
ports  of  Europe  to  British  goods.  The  British  govern- 
ment met  this  boycott  by  its  "Orders  in  Council,"  which 
placed  a  blockade  upon  French  ports,  and  authorized  the 
capture  of  neutral  vessels  endeavoring  to  trade  with  them. 
This  inconclusive  commercial  warfare  lasted  several  years, 
but  was  far  from  being  successful  in  its  object  of  ruining 
England.  Indeed,  it  is  said  that  the  most  stringent 
enforcement  of  the  "Decrees"  and  "Orders"  did  not 
prevent  the  Napoleonic  armies  from  wearing  uniforms  of 
English  cloth  and  carrying  English  steel  in  their  scabbards. 

England  first  began  to  make  head  against  the  French 
conqueror  when  that  far-sighted  minister  George  Can- 
ning sent  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley  to  Portugal  to  take  com- 
mand of  the  British  forces  in  the  Peninsula.  Wellesley 
had  recently  returned  from  India,  where  he  had  achieved 
a  brilliant  reputation  for  thoroughness  of  organization, 
precision  of  manoeuver,  and  unvarying  success,  qualities 
which  at  that  time  were  lamentably  rare  among  British 
generals.  In  Portugal  first,  and  later  in  Spain,  the  ster- 


4  Ten  Englishmen 

ling  qualities  of  the  new  commander  steadily  gained  ground 
for  England,  driving  out  the  French  marshals,  and  carrying 
this  Peninsular  War  to  a  triumphant  conclusion  by  the 
invasion  of  France  (1814).  Created  Duke  of  Wellington 
for  his  successes  in  the  Peninsula,  Wellesley  held  command 
of  the  allied  forces  on  the  Belgian  frontier  when,  on  the 
1 8th  of  June,  1815,  they  met  and  routed  the  French  at 
Waterloo.  That  day  made  Napoleon  an  exile,  and  "the 
Iron  Duke"  the  idol  of  the  English  lands  in  which  he  con- 
tinued to  be  the  most  conspicuous  personage  for  nearly 
half  a  century. 

THE    RESETTLEMENT   OF   EUROPE 

Waterloo  brought  England  into  new  relations  with  the 
nations  of  Europe.  The  Congress  of  Vienna,  in  which 
the  victors  endeavored  to  restore  the  damage  wrought  by 
the  Corsican  intruder,  added  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  Ceylon, 
Malta,  and  a  few  less  important  islands,  to  the  growing 
colonial  empire  of  Great  Britain.  The  Holy  Alliance, 
which  had  been  suggested  by  the  Czar  in  1815,  at  the 
friendly  meeting  of  the  Russian,  Austrian,  and  Prussian 
sovereigns  at  Paris,  was  in  theory  a  compact  between 
these  powerful  rulers — "an  intimate  union  on  the  basis  of 
morality  and  religion" — but  it  soon  degenerated  into  an 
unholy  league  for  the  mutual  protection  of  these  three 
despotic  dynasties  against  the  dormant  forces  of  constitu- 
tional liberty,  which  began  to  stir  again  in  every  European 
state  as  soon  as  the  Napoleonic  specter  had  been  laid. 
The  French  Revolution  had  given  currency  to  opinions 
which  no  congress  of  sovereigns  could  wholly  repress,  and 
now  the  policy  of  the  "Alliance,"  to  strangle  all  constitu- 
tional aspirations  and  rivet  the  chains  of  Bourbonism  upon 


Introduction  5 

limbs  that  had  once  known  the  bliss  of  freedom,  led  to 
fierce  intellectual  revolt,  and  sometimes  to  physical  vio- 
lence. England  had  made  common  cause  with  Turk  and 
Christian,  Kaiser  and  King,  against  Napoleon,  and  for  a 
time  her  statesmen  viewed  with  complacency  the  Holy 
Alliance,  so  reassuring  in  its  name  and  so  pure  in  its  pro- 
fessions; but  when  it  became  evident  that  this  mighty 
league  was  to  be  thrown  against  every  liberty- loving  people 
in  the  Old  World  and  the  New,  George  Canning  broke  the 
irksome  bond,  and  put  the  land  of  parliaments  and  consti- 
tutional liberty  in  its  rightful  place  as  the  friend  of  free- 
dom and  the  foe  to  the  oppressor.  It  was  the  spirit  if  not 
the  voice  of  Canning  which  was  powerful  to  save  Portugal 
from  the  Bourbon,  to  recognize  the  independence  of  the 
revolted  American  colonies  of  Spain,  and  to  restrain  the 
enemies  of  freedom  from  handing  insurgent  Greece  back 
to  the  Turk.  His  predecessors  had  been  accustomed  to 
sink  the  interests  and  desires  of  England  in  regard  for 
what  the  continental  power  called  "the  good  of  Europe." 
He  was  the  first  statesman  of  his  generation  who  dared  to 
take  an  independent  position  on  "European"  questions — 
"to  write  'England,'  "  as  he  phrased  it,  "where  it  had  been 
the  custom  to  write  'Europe.''  The  policy  which  he 
inaugurated  marks  a  turning-point  in  the  history  of  British 
foreign  affairs. 

CATHOLIC    EMANCIPATION 

George  IV.,  who  had  been  regent  since  his  father's 
illness  in  1 8 12,  reigned  in  his  own  name  from  1820  to 
1830,  though  his  voice  in  the  affairs  of  state  was  small 
indeed.  His  Ministers,  Liverpool,  Canning,  Goderich, 
and  Wellington,  were  confronted  by  serious  problems  of 


6  Ten  Englishmen 

domestic  policy  which  had  sprung  up  during  the  long 
period  of  foreign  wars  and  partly  in  direct  consequence  of 
those  disturbing  conditions.  The  one  recurrent  question 
which  found  definite  settlement  in  this  reign  was  that  of 
Catholic  emancipation.  The  penal  laws  against  Roman 
Catholics  had  disgraced  the  English  statute-books  for  two 
centuries.  On  the  first  of  January,  1801,  the  Legislative 
Union  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland  had  gone  into  effect 
under  the  name  of  the  United  Kingdom.  The  Irish  Parlia- 
ment,'which  had  met  in  Dublin  since  1782,  went  out  of 
existence,  and  in  the  place  of  "Home  Rule"  Ireland  was 
represented  in  both  houses  of  the  Imperial  Parliament  at 
Westminster.  Pitt  had  promised  the  numerous  Catholics 
of  Ireland  that  the  laws  which  made  them  ineligible  to  rep- 
resent their  country  in  Parliament  should  be  repealed,  and 
had  abandoned  office  in  disgust  when  George  III.  refused 
to  sanction  his  project  of  Catholic  emancipation.  In 
1807  the  Whig  ministry  espoused  the  same  cause,  and  in 
turn  resigned  because  of  the  opposition  of  the  Crown. 
In  Daniel  O'Connell  the  cause  at  length  found  a  spokes- 
man whose  eloquence,  wit,  and  talent  for  "agitation" 
soon  combined  his  Irish  partisans  into  "The  Catholic 
Association."  Working  in  conjunction  with  the  Whigs 
of  England,  O'ConnelFs  followers  formed  a  body  which 
could  not  be  neglected.  Soon  after  Canning's  untimely 
death  the  Duke  of  Wellington  had  taken  office.  He  was 
a  Tory,  with  all  the  prejudices  of  that  political  faith  deep- 
ened by  his  birth  and  training  as  an  Irish  Protestant,  but 
the  agitation  had  reached  such  proportions  that  he  saw  in 
it  a  menace  of  civil  war,  to  avoid  which  he  was  willing  to 
abandon  his  most  cherished  opinions  on  the  Catholic  ques- 
tion. Accordingly,  in  1829,  the  Iron  Duke  faced  about 


Introduction  7 

and  brought  in  the  bill  which,  becoming  a  law  by  Whig 
and  Canningite  votes,  admitted  Roman  Catholics  to  Parlia- 
ment, and  to  civil  rights  only  a  little  short  of  complete. 
But  instead  of  removing  the  Irish  question  from  politics, 
it  was  only  prepared  for  more  strenuous  presentation  in  a 
new  guise,  for  O'Connell  was  returned  to  Parliament  at 
the  head  of  some  fifty  Catholic  members  to  agitate  for 
Irish  independence. 

RAILWAYS 

The  perfection  of  the  steam  locomotive  and  the  incep- 
tion and  marvelous  development  of  the  system  of  steam 
railway  transportation  marked  the  second  quarter  of  the 
century.  The  name  of  the  Stephensons,  father  and  son, 
is  inseparably  connected  with  this  work  which  has  affected 
so  deeply  the  economic  and  social  life  of  the  nation,  and 
has  contributed  in  a  thousand  indirect  ways  to  the  expan- 
sion and  consolidation  of  the  empire.  It  has  been  said 
that  in  1825  the  traveler  from  London  to  Rome  went  no 
faster  than  the  courier  of  the  Caesars,  eighteen  hundred 
years  before.  Thanks  to  George  Stephenson's  inventive 
genius,  the  traveler  of  to-day  consumes  scarcely  more  time 
between  London  and  Peking. 

THE  REFORM  OF  PARLIAMENT 
The  reform  of  Parliament  was  the  next  question  to 
come  up  for  settlement.  In  1830  representation  in  the 
House  of  Commons  still  remained  upon  a  basis  which  had 
been  established  centuries  before.  Meantime  the  distri- 
bution of  the  voting  population  had  been  totally  trans- 
formed. The  most  populous  shires  had  no  more  seats 
than  the  least  of  all.  There  were  decayed  boroughs  which 
had  dwindled  in  population  until  but  a  handful  of  voters 


8  Ten  Englishmen 

remained,  yet  these  "rotten"  boroughs  retained  their 
right  to  choose  one  or  more  members  of  Parliament,  while 
the  great  modern  manufacturing  towns  and  seaports  were 
totally  unrepresented.  The  agitation  for  parliamentary 
reform,  which  rose  in  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
was  directed  against  the  sale  of  seats  in  the  rotten  boroughs, 
and  the  shameless  bribery.  As  early  as  1770  Lord  Chat- 
ham had  predicted  reform  or  revolution.  His  son,  the 
younger  Pitt,  had  proposed  remedies,  but  the  deluge  which 
overwhelmed  the  government  of  France  in  the  closing 
years  of  the  century  stiffened  English  conservatism  for  a 
century  against  any  radical  political  change.  Meanwhile 
the  rapid  industrial  expansion  of  the  kingdom,  with  its 
unprecedented  increase  of  population,  and  the  sudden 
growth  of  insignificant  hamlets  into  teeming  factory  towns, 
had  emphasized  the  injustice  of  existing  arrangements. 
Earl  Grey,  who  had  been  an  advocate  of  reform  for  forty 
years,  and  Lord  John  Russell,  who  had  championed  the 
cause  for  a  decade,  were  united  in  the  Whig  ministry 
which  succeeded  Wellington  in  1830.  Supported  by  a 
tremendous  popular  demand  which  seemed  to  stir  the 
nation  to  its  depths  they  brought  in  their  first  bill  in  1831. 
It  prevailed  in  the  Commons  by  a  bare  majority,  but  the 
Tory  House  of  Lords  threw  it  out.  This  action  by  the 
privileged  class  was  a  signal  for  an  indignant  outburst  from 
the  nation.  The  "Radicals,"  as  the  advanced  Whigs 
were  already  beginning  to  be  called,  did  not  conceal  their 
lack  of  respect  for  the  Upper  House,  and  used  revolution- 
ary threats  against  it  as  a  relic  of  medievalism  which 
should  no  longer  be  tolerated  in  a  free  state.  But  the 
time  had  passed  when  the  peers  could  flout  an  aroused 
nation.  When  the  Third  Reform  Bill  was  ready  for  pass- 


Introduction  9 

age,  the  ministers  secured  the  King's  promise  to  frustrate 
the  opposition  of  the  Lords  by  filling  up  the  House  with 
new  peers  created  expressly  to  vote  for  reform.  The 
threat  sufficed.  Wellington  and  the  most  stern  and  un- 
bending Tories  absented  themselves  from  the  decisive 
division,  and  allowed  the  Reform  Bill  to  become  a  law 
in  June,  1832. 

ADMINISTRATIVE   REFORMS 

Great  things  were  expected  of  the  first  Parliament 
which  was  chosen  on  the  basis  of  the  new  law.  The 
seats  gained  by  the  disfranchisement  of  the  small  and 
corrupt  boroughs  were  distributed  to  new  constituencies 
in  London,  Liverpool,  Manchester,  Birmingham,  Leeds, 
Newcastle,  and  the  other  modern  cities.  The  more  popu- 
lous counties  were  subdivided  into  districts,  and  the  divis- 
ions received  additional  representation.  The  franchise 
had  also  been  extended  and  based  upon  a  moderate  prop- 
erty qualification.  The  result  was,  that  the  center  of 
political  power  passed  from  the  nobility  and  landed  gentry, 
with  whom  it  had  resided  for  centuries,  and  came  to  the 
farmers  and  shop-keepers,  the  so-called  middle  class,  lying 
between  the  ancient  aristocracy  of  birth  and  landed  posses- 
sions and  the  still  unenfranchised  masses  of  mill  operatives 
and  agricultural  laborers.  That  the  new  Parliament  would 
show  a  new  temper  and  be  dominated  by  new  ideas  was 
but  natural.  But  those  who  inferred  from  the  bitterness 
of  the  struggle  for  reform  that  the  nation  was  on  the 
verge  of  an  abyss  into  which  the  Lords  and  the  Crown 
should  shortly  topple,  greatly  deceived  themselves. 


IO  Ten  Englishmen 

THE    POOR    LAWS 

The  reformed  Parliaments  devoted  themselves  to  cer- 
tain long-deferred  and  intensely  practical  reforms  which 
were  social  and  economic  in  their  nature,  leaving  the  con- 
stitution alone  for  the  next  twenty  years.  In  these  Parlia- 
ments and  ministries  for  the  next  forty  years  the  Whig 
party  usually  had  the  upper  hand.  In  1834  Parliament 
revolutionized  the  system  of  public  relief  to  the  needy 
which  had  existed  for  fifty  years,  to  the  extreme  demorali- 
zation of  the  poorer  working-classes  and  the  frustration  of 
really  benevolent  purpose.  The  old  law  had  assumed 
that  each  parish  owed  every  native  a  living.  A  sliding 
scale  was  accordingly  provided  by  which,  as  the  rate  of 
wages  declined,  the  parish  should  pay  to  the  workman 
enough  to  bring  his  receipts  up  to  the  standard  amount. 
Employers  took  advantage  of  this  system  to  cut  wages  to 
a  minimum,  the  parish  making  up  the  difference.  Another 
mischievous  clause  increased  the  pauper's  dole  in  propor- 
tion to  the  number  of  his  children,  with  the  direct  result 
of  early  and  improvident  marriages.  To  put  it  bluntly, 
children  were  bred  for  the  bounty.  The  number  of  per- 
sons receiving  parish  aid  was  enormously  increased.  The 
self-respect  of  the  poor  was  destroyed,  and  the  poor-rate 
became  a  burden  of  millions  of  pounds  annually  upon  the 
treasury.  The  act  of  1834  put  an  end  to  these  abuses  by 
restricting  outdoor  relief  to  the  aged  and  destitute,  and 
requiring  all  other  paupers  to  go  to  the  union  workhouse. 
Within  two  years  the  poor-rate  was  diminished  fully  one- 
third. 


Introduction  1 1 

ABOLITION   OF   SLAVERY 

In  1834  slavery  was  abolished  throughout  the  British 
dominions.  The  earnest  labors  of  the  Abolitionists, 
Clarkson,  Wilberforce,  Macaulay,  and  others,  had  secured 
the  abolition  of  the  slave  trade  thirty  years  before  (1807), 
but  the  united  opposition  of  the  colonial  planters  to  a 
reform  which  would  deprive  them  of  the  services  of  their 
chattel  laborers  postponed  the  consummation  of  the 
humanitarian  measure.  The  reformed  Parliament  proved 
less  sensitive  to  the  planters'  arguments.  It  destroyed 
the  system  forever,  making  a  cash  compensation  to  the 
owners. 

A  third  question,  on  which  Earl  Grey's  ministry  took 
high  moral  ground,  was  a  redress  of  another  of  the  ancient 
wrongs  of  Ireland.  The  Church  of  England  was  by  law 
established  in  that  most  distressful  country,  and  the  people, 
though  mostly  Roman  Catholics,  were  under  the  necessity 
of  paying  tithes  for  the  support  of  a  church  which  they 
detested,  and  which  indeed,  in  a  large  part  of  the  island, 
had  no  existence  except  for  purposes  of  taxation.  The 
Irish  protest,  as  has  often  been  the  case,  took  the  form  of 
violence  and  outrage,  the  so-called  "Tithe  War,"  which 
postponed  rather  than  hastened  the  redress  of  their  griev- 
ance. But  in  1835  the  ministry  of  Lord  Melbourne 
relieved  the  peasants  of  this  part  of  their  many  burdens. 

ACCESSION    OF  VICTORIA 

The  name  of  Lord  Melbourne  has  been  kept  green  not 
only  by  the  Australasian  metropolis,  but  by  the  fact  that 
it  was  his  duty  as  Prime  Minister  to  announce  to  the  Prin- 
cess Alexandrina  Victoria  the  fact — to  her  so  momentous — 


12  Ten  Englishmen 

that  her  uncle,  William  IV.,  was  dead  (June  2O,  1837), 
and  that  she,  a  girl  of  eighteen,  was  Queen  of  England. 
Victoria,  as  she  was  known  thenceforward,  lived  to  see 
the  dawn  of  the  twentieth  century,  to  witness  the  enor- 
mous development  of  the  British  empire  in  population, 
wealth,  and  power,  and  it  is  perhaps  not  too  much  to  say, 
to  win  all  hearts  among  her  subjects  by  the  simplicity, 
purity,  and  strength  of  her  character.  Had  she  displayed 
the  stubborn  stupidity  of  her  grandfather,  George  III.,  or 
the  immorality  of  some  of  his  sons,  it  is  not  rash  to  believe 
that  the  tide  of  radicalism  might  have  thrown  down  all 
barriers  and  swept  away  the  throne  on  the  flood  of  democ- 
racy. By  grace  of  character  she  was  a  model  constitu- 
tional sovereign,  and  her  benign  reign,  the  longest  in 
English  annals,  contributed  more  than  the  policy  of  any  of 
her  ministers  to  make  the  monarchy  popular  and  per- 
manent. 

The  first  decade  of  the  Victorian  era  witnessed  three 
great  agitations,  two  of  which  ended  in  fiasco  and  the 
third  in  a  triumph  which  wrought  tremendous  changes  in 
the  kingdom.  "Chartism,"  "Repeal,"  and  "Free 
Trade"  were  the  three  topics  on  which  the  thought  of 
multitudes  was  engaged. 

CHARTISM 

Chartism  was  the  name  applied  to  the  agitation  in 
favor  of  a  statement  of  principles  called  "The  People's 
Charter."  The  six  points  of  Chartism  were:  (i)  annual 
Parliaments,  (2)  salaries  for  members,  (3)  universal  suf- 
frage, (4)  vote  by  ballot,  (5)  abolition  of  property  qualifi- 
cation for  membership  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  (6) 
equal  electoral  districts.  The  demand  came  from  the 


Introduction  13 

\vorkingmen,  who  were  dissatisfied  because  the  Reform  Bill 
of  1832  had  stopped  short  of  their  political  stratum.  The 
Chartists  copied  the  method  of  agitation  which  O'Connell 
had  employed  in  extorting  Catholic  emancipation.  Mon- 
ster meetings,  mile-long  petitions,  copious  effusions  of 
printer's  ink  and  oratory,  and  a  National  Charter  Associ- 
ation were  a  part  of  the  machinery.  In  1848,  when  the 
prevalent  hard  times  increased  the  restless  discontent  of 
the  masses,  the  movement  culminated  in  a  vast  assembly 
on  Kennington  Common.  A  respectful  half-million  were 
to  march  to  Westminster  and  lay  their  demands,  the  six 
points  backed  by  six  million  signatures,  before  the  Com- 
mons. The  year  1848  was  one  of  widespread  discontent, 
the  revolution  year  of  the  century,  and  the  authorities 
took  pains  to  guard  the  peace  of  London  with  especial 
care,  even  Wellington  being  called  into  service  to  direct 
the  military.  But  nine-tenths  of  the  mob  failed  to  put  in 
appearance,  and  the  monster  petition  turned  out  to  be  a 
monstrous  and  clumsy  fraud.  Nothing  came  of  it  at  the 
moment.  The  return  of  better  times  took  the  heart  out 
of  the  agitation,  and  the  progress  of  orderly  political  devel- 
opment gradually  incorporated  three  of  the  Chartist  points 
in  the  law  of  the  land  without  seriously  affecting  the  con- 
stitution. 

O'CONNELL  AND  REPEAL 

The  second  popular  war  cry  was  "Repeal."  In  this 
agitation,  again  O'Connell's  was  the  chief  personage,  and 
his  eloquence  the  chief  factor.  It  was  in  effect  another 
phase  of  -the  Irish  demand  for  Home  Rule.  Since  the 
first  day  of  the  new  century  Ireland  had  been,  for  legisla- 
tive purposes,  a  part  of  the  United  Kingdom.  It  was  the 


14  Ten  Englishmen 

act  which  had  established  this  "Legislative  Union"  and 
abolished  the  Irish  Parliament  which  O'Connell  was 
determined  to  repeal.  All  that  monster  meetings,  soul- 
moving  oratory,  secret  associations,  printer's  ink,  could  do 
to  influence  the  government  by  parliamentary  manceuver, 
demonstration  of  popular  feeling,  intimidation,  and 
threats  of  insurrection  was  done.  As  a  member  of 
Parliament,  and  the  dictator  to  his  "tail"  of  half  a  hun- 
dred Irish  members,  the  silver-tongued  "Irish  tribune" 
exerted  a  considerable  political  power  so  long  as  parties 
were  somewhat  evenly  divided  so  as  lo  make  his  support 
desirable.  But  when,  in  1841,  the  Tories  came  back  into 
office  under  Sir  Robert  Peel,  backed  by  a  strong  majority, 
this  influence  declined.  The  arrest  of  O'Connell,  in 
1843,  f°r  treasonable  utterances,  discredited  him  with  his 
following,  which  soon  fell  apart — the  more  determined 
section  to  carry  Ireland's  cause  to  the  extreme  of  violent 
outbreak,  the  milder  partisans  to  await  a  more  opportune 
moment  to  press  their  agitation  for  Home  Rule. 

THE    REPEAL   OF   THE    CORN   LAWS 

The  names  of  Sir  Robert  Peel  and  Richard  Cobden 
are  indissolubly  connected  with  the  legislation  which 
repealed  the  "Corn  Laws"  and  placed  English  commerce 
upon  the  basis  of  free  trade — Cobden  as  the  theorist  and 
untiring  agitator,  whose  splendid  talents  were  unsparingly 
•  devoted  to  preparing  public  opinion  for  the  economic  revo- 
lution, and  Peel  as  the  protectionist  Prime  Minister,  who 
was  open-minded  enough  to  become  convinced  of  his  error 
in  persisting  in  the  policy  in  which  he  had  been  trained. 
The  necessity  for  a  change  of  commercial  policy  grew  out 
of  the  altered  conditions  in  the  nation.  The  agricultural 


Introduction  15 

England  of  the  eighteenth  century  had  in  a  generation 
been  transformed  into  a  hive  of  manufacturing  industry. 
The  rapid  adoption  of  steam  power  and  improved 
machinery  in  England  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  paralysis 
of  industry  on  the  Continent  during  the  Napoleonic  wars, 
had  wrought  the  change,  while  the  commercial  marine, 
guarded  by  her  powerful  navy,  had  brought  the  carrying 
trade  of  the  world  under  her  flag.  The  weakest  point  in 
the  English  system  was  the  protective  tariff,  which  lay 
heaviest  on  imports  of  grain — or  "corn,"  to  use  the  insular 
term.  The  Corn  Laws  were  a  body  of  legislation  enacted 
from  time  to  time  by  Parliaments  which  were  controlled 
by  the  great  land-owning  interests.  The  land-owner, 
whose  income  was  derived  chiefly  from  rents  upon  agri- 
cultural lands,  consistently  favored  a  scale  of  tariffs  which 
would  maintain  the  price  of  cereal  grains  at  the  highest 
figure.  At  the  close  of  the  great  war  (1815)  the  nation 
was  confronted  with  business  disaster.  "War  prices"  for 
grain  fell  rapidly,  the  markets  were  stocked  with  more 
manufactured  goods  than  impoverished  Europe  could 
absorb,  while  the  English  labor  market  was  glutted  by  the 
influx  of  several  hundred  thousand  able-bodied  soldiers  and 
sailors  in  quest  of  industrial  employment.  As  early  as 
1821  Mr.  Huskisson,  a  cabinet  colleague  of  Mr.  Canning, 
had  endeavored  to  lighten  the  burden  of  British  manu- 
factures by  reducing  the  import  duties  upon  the  raw 
material  used  by  the  English  looms.  He  was  for  getting 
at  the  root  of  the  matter  and  disposing  of  the  Corn  Laws, 
so  as  to  provide  "free  food"  as  well  as  "free  raw  mate- 
rials," but  his  Tory  companions  believed  that  such  legisla- 
tion would  vote  the  bread  out  of  their  own  mouths.  In 
1838  an  Anti-Corn  Law  Association  was  formed  at  Man- 


1 6  Ten  Englishmen 

Chester.  Under  the  direction  of  Richard  Cobden,  a  young 
and  successful  manufacturer,  who  had  become  the  most 
ardent  of  free  traders,  a  league  of  similar  clubs  was  organ- 
ized throughout  the  country,  and  through  it  an  agitation 
unsurpassed  in  the  history  of  politics  was  prosecuted  until 
its  object  was  attained.  In  Parliament  he  became  one  of 
the  most  effective  orators,  and  the  chief  target  of  his  argu- 
ment was  Peel,  the  leader  of  the  protectionists.  In 
1845-46  a  more  powerful  argument  than  Cobden's  was 
thrown  into  the  scale.  The  failure  of  the  Irish  potato 
crop,  the  sole  food  supply  of  that  unhappy  island,  "forced 
Peel's  hand."  In  the  face  of  two-thirds  of  his  own  party, 
in  opposition  to  his  own  life-long  political  creed,  he  gave 
notice  as  Prime  Minister  that  he  should  introduce  a  bill 
for  the  immediate  reduction  and  ultimate  repeal  of  the 
laws  which  were  responsible  for  the  high  price  of  food. 
He  had  become  a  convert  to  free  trade,  and  was  ready  to 
carry  it  into  practice.  The  young  Disraeli,  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  protectionist  element  of  his  party,  lashed 
the  premier  in  the  speech  which  first  gave  him  a  following 
in  the  Parliament  that  he  was  soon  to  control.  But 
enough  Peelites  followed  their  leader  into  the  camp  of  the 
free  traders  to  carry  the  bill.  The  Corn  Laws  disap- 
peared from  the  statute-book. 

HUMANITARIAN    LEGISLATION 

The  sudden  and  enormous  expansion  of  English  indus- 
try in  the  early  part  of  the  century  brought  special  hard- 
ship to  several  classes  in  the  community.  The  substitution 
of  the  factory  system  for  cottage  industry  destroyed  home 
life  for  thousands  of  families,  and  the  pressure  of  poverty 
and  the  greed  of  manufacturers  ground  the  poor  mill  oper- 


Introduction  17 

atives  between  the  upper  and  nether  millstones.  To 
Anthony  Ashley  Cooper,  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  more  than 
to  any  other  is  due  the  persistent  investigation  and  dis- 
closure which  aroused  the  public  mind  to  the  prevailing 
conditions  in  mine  and  factory  where  hours  of  labor  were 
excessive,  and  where  women  and  children  were  subjected 
to  degrading  tasks  and  brutal  treatment.  The  Factory 
Law  and  kindred  legislation  since  1830  are  the  fruits  of 
the  beneficent  and  untiring  labors  of  the  Earl. 

PALMERSTON   AND    FOREIGN    RELATIONS 

The  era  which  had  been  marked  by  such  political, 
social,  and  economic  reforms  and  agitations  came  to  a 
close  in  the  middle  of  the  century.  The  Whigs  came  into 
power  in  Parliament  in  1846  for  a  long  term.  Foreign 
affairs  supplied  the  most  notable  topics  for  the  next  twenty 
years.  The  foreign  minister  during  much  of  this  time 
was  Lord  Palmerston.  He  it  was  who  piloted  the  nation 
without  disaster  through  the  rocks  of  1848-51,  when 
thrones  were  toppling  in  every  European  kingdom,  and 
England  was  being  appealed  to  for  help  against  despot 
and  democrat. 

THE    EASTERN    QUESTION 

The  "Eastern  Question"  now  came  up.  The  Czar  of 
Russia,  an  object  of  suspicion  to  England,  because  of  his 
rivalry  with  her  for  the  possession  of  India,  endeavored  to 
secure  from  the  Sultan  of  Turkey  official  recognition  of 
his  government  as  the  legitimate  protector  of  Christians 
in  the  Ottoman  empire.  Such  a  responsibility  would  have 
afforded  many  opportunities  for  interfering  in  Turkish 
affairs.  France  opposed  the  demand,  and  Palmerston 


1 8  Ten  Englishmen 

placed  England  on  the  side  of  Napoleon  III.,  against  the 
Czar,  who  had  invaded  Turkey  in  pursuance  of  his  design 
to  annex  a  large  part  of  her  European  provinces,  and 
advance  his  position  toward  Constantinople.  The  Crimean 
War  which  followed  (1854-56)  at  least  checked  Russia 
for  the  time.  It  was  the  only  European  war  in  which 
England  had  borne  arms  since  Waterloo.  But  in  Asia 
and  Africa  the  Queen's  troops  had  found  almost  continual 
employment  along  the  frontiers  of  the  now  vastly  extended 
empire.  In  1857  Persia  had  to  be  chastised  for  edging 
toward  India  by  way  of  the  Afghan  possessions.  Russia 
had  been  at  the  Shah's  elbow.  In  1856,  and  repeatedly 
until  1860,  the  British  fleets  were  battering  open  the  ports 
of  China  and  extorting  trade  concessions.  But  the  most 
memorable  war  in  the  imperial  history  of  these  years  was 
within  the  borders  of  the  empire,  though  in  a  distant  land. 
This  was  the  Sepoy  Rebellion  or  Indian  mutiny  of  1857. 

THE   GREAT   SEPOY   MUTINY 

The  British  possessions  in  India  had  been  more  than 
doubled  in  extent  since  the  opening  of  the  century.  In 
1833  the  trade  monopoly  of  the  East  India  Company  had 
been  broken,  but  its  civil  and  military  servants  continued 
to  administer  the  government.  Their  ability  was  displayed 
especially  in  the  rapidity  with  which  they  were  extending 
British  authority  over  the  native  states  when  the  outbreak 
came.  A  conspiracy  was  laid  among  the  Sepoys,  the 
native  soldiers  in  the  regiments  of  "John  Company,"  as 
the  great  corporation  was  called  in  Asia.  To  their  pri- 
vate grievances  was  added  the  false  report  that  the  com- 
pany intended  to  force  them  into  Christianity  by  serving 
out  to  them  cartridges  which  would  defile  them,  neat's 


Introduction  19 

tallow  for  the  Hindoo  venerator  of  the  sacred  cow,  and 
hog's  lard  for  the  Mohammedan  hater  of  swine!  In  May, 
1857,  the  mutiny  burst  into  flame.  The  Sepoys  slaughtered 
their  officers  and  many  other  Europeans,  and  restored  the 
heir  of  the  ancient  race  of  kings  to  the  throne  of  his 
fathers  at  Delhi.  Here  and  there,  at  Cawnpore  and 
Lucknow,  a  few  British  troops  defended  themselves  and 
the  refugees  against  the  hordes  of  bloodthirsty  rebels. 
The  "Massacre  of  Cawnpore"  and  "the  Relief  of  Luck 
now,"  phrases  which  have  passed  into  history,  suggest 
the  fate  of  the  two  beleaguered  garrisons.  The  rebellion 
was  over  in  a  twelve-month,  smothered  in  its  own  blood. 
Close  upon  its  suppression  came  the  death  of  the  East 
India  Company,  abolished  by  act  of  Parliament  in  1858. 
Since  that  year  the  crown  has  ruled  the  Indian  realm 
through  a  Secretary  of  State  for  India,  residing  in  Lon- 
don, and  a  Viceroy  holding  court  at  Calcutta. 

From  the  defeat  of  the  mutineers,  in  1859,  to  h*5  own 
death,  in  1865,  Lord  Palmerston  managed  to  save  the 
nation  from  being  embroiled  to  the  fighting-point  in  the 
perpetual  quarrels  of  Europe.  Italy  fought  and  won  her 
liberty  from  the  Austrian;  Poland  rose  against  the  Rus- 
sian; Denmark  had  her  damaging  Schleswig-Holstein 
War  with  Prussia  and  Austria.  English  sympathies  were 
strongly  enlisted  in  all  these  troubles,  but  Palmerston 
would  not  allow  her  to  proceed  to  the  point  of  breaking 
the  peace.  From  1861  to  1865,  while  the  Civil  War  was 
being  fought  out  in  America,  his  government  was  prompt 
to  recognize  the  belligerent  status  of  the  Confederacy, 
and  to  favor  the  South  by  allowing  privateers  like  the 
"Alabama"  to  be  built  and  manned  in  English  ports.  But 
the  actual  break  with  Mr.  Lincoln's  government  did  not 


2O  Ten  Englishmen 

come,  and  the  old  Whig  statesman  lived  to  see  the  South 
overpowered. 

Through  the  middle  reaches  of  the  century  the  political 
power  in  England  remained  for  the  most  part  in  the  hands 
of  the  Whig,  latterly  called  Liberal,  ministries.  The 
impulse  for  reform — political,  economic,  and  social — had 
spent  itself  before  1850,  and  the  older  statesmen  who 
guided  the  public  policies  had  no  sympathy  with  the 
demands  for  radical  legislation,  church  disestablishment, 
universal  suffrage,  and  what  not,  which  came  up  from 
many  parts  of  the  nation.  With  the  death  of  Palmerston, 
and  the  retirement  of  Russell,  a  new  era  was  inaugurated, 
and  new  actors  stepped  to  the  front  of  the  stage. 

GLADSTONE    AND     DISRAELI 

At  the  head  of  the  Liberals  was  William  Ewart  Glad- 
stone, who  in  his  younger  days  had  followed  his  master, 
Peel,  out  of  the  old  Tory  lines  into  the  camp  of  the  free 
traders,  and  had  been  Russell's  chief  lieutenant,  and  Palm- 
erston's  financial  minister  for  the  last  half-dozen  years. 
He  was  a  man  of  splendid  intellectual  power,  sterling 
morality,  an  adept  at  parliamentary  management,  a  shrewd 
financier,  and  held  a  deep  conviction  that  it  was  the  part 
of  statesmanship  to  embody  in  law  what  he  conceived  to 
be  the  proper  demands  of  the  nation.  His  opponent  for 
a  generation  was  Benjamin  Disraeli,  the  young  Jewish 
novelist,  who  had  first  won  a  following  in  the  House  of 
Commons  by  voicing  the  venom  of  the  old-line  protection- 
ist Tories  against  the  recreant  Peel.  Versatile,  shifty, 
brilliant,  this  adventurous  politician  made  himself  indis- 
pensable to  the  Conservatives,  and  overcame  by  political 
moves  which  were  little  short  of  genius,  the  leadership  of 


Introduction  21 

the  opposition.  Indeed,  he  may  be  said  to  have  trans- 
formed Conservatism,  giving  it  a  new  rallying  cry,  and 
inscribing  great  achievements  upon  its  banner. 

LIBERAL    REFORMS 

"Whenever  that  man  gets  my  place  we  shall  have 
strange  doings,"  Palmerston  had  said  toward  the  end  of 
his  life,  alluding  to  the  open-minded  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer,  Mr.  Gladstone,  and  had  he  remained  on  earth 
for  another  generation,  he  would  indeed  have  seen  much 
done  by  his  erstwhile  followers  under  Gladstone's  direc- 
tion which  he  would  have  accounted  passing  strange. 
Admitting  the  democratic  principle  that  the  state  owed  it 
to  itself  to  provide  every  man's  child  with  an  education, 
Gladstone  inaugurated  (1870)  a  beneficent  system  of 
free  public  schools.  An  old  popular  grievance,  the  viva 
voce  method  of  voting  at  parliamentary  elections,  was  done 
away  and  the  secret  ballot  substituted  (1872),  a  change 
which  struck  a  heavy  blow  at  the  prevalent  bribery  and 
intimidation.  He  corrected  one  of  the  worst  abuses  in 
the  army  by  abolishing  the  purchase  system,  under  which 
a  junior  officer  was  accustomed  to  buy  his  promotion  by 
compensating  his  seniors,  a  practice  which  had  closed  the 
higher  grades  to  men  of  small  means.  The  extension  of 
the  suffrage  to  the  agricultural  laborers  was  finally  reached 
by  his  Reform  Bill  of  1884,  the  last  class  being  thus 
admitted  to  the  body  politic. 

THE   CAUSE   OF   IRELAND 

But  it  was  to  the  grievances  of  Ireland  that  Gladstone 
bent  the  readiest  ear,  and  it  was  upon  that  reef  that  his 
political  career  made  shipwreck  at  the  last.  In  his  first 


22  Ten  Englishmen 

ministry  he  undertook  and  carried  the  disestablishment  of 
the  Irish  Church,  by  which  the  Irish  Catholics  were 
relieved  of  an  odious  burden.  His  Irish  Land  Act  of 
1870  aimed  to  give  the  tenant-farmer  certain  valuable 
rights  in  the  land  which  he  rented.  The  result  was  rather 
to  redouble  the  cry  against  "landlordism,"  with  its  corol- 
lary of  agrarian  crime.  A  second  Land  Act  (1881)  pro- 
vided a  land  court  for  adjusting  rents.  Instead  of  quieting 
the  disorders  this  indulgent  legislation  was  the  signal  for  a 
fresh  outburst  of  crime.  The  Irish  Land  League  was 
organized  to  secure  the  abolition  of  landlordism,  and  when 
the  Irish  leader,  Charles  Stewart  Parnell,  was  imprisoned 
he  exhorted  the  tenants  to  cease  paying  rent  altogether 
.  until  the  government  should  grant  all  their  demands.  The 
Liberals  were  forced  for  the  moment  to  use  strong  meas- 
ures to  restore  order  to  Ireland,  but  the  Home  Rule  party 
in  Parliament,  skillfully  led  by  Mr.  Parnell,  continued  to 
embarrass  legislation  and  obstruct  the  ordinary  functions 
of  government.  In  April,  1886,  Mr.  Gladstone,  having 
become  Prime  Minister  for  the  third  time,  asked  Parlia- 
ment to  grant  home  rule  to  Ireland  through  an  Irish 
Parliament  sitting  at  Dublin.  Parnell  and  his  following 
supported  the  measure,  but  the  Liberal  party  was  rent  in 
twain.  Lord  Hartington,  Joseph  Chamberlain,  John 
Bright,  and  others  of  less  note,  deserted  their  old  chief. 
Enough  of  these  "Liberal  Unionists"  seceded  to  defeat 
the  bill.  In  August,  1892,  the  aged  Liberal  chieftain 
again  carried  the  elections  and  took  the  seals  of  office  for 
the  fourth  time.  Home  Rule  was  again  the  principal  plank 
in  his  platform,  and  all  the  energies  of  the  "Grand  Old 
Man"  were  mustered  to  carry  a  new  law  differing  some- 
what from  the  bill  of  1886.  Though  it  passed  the  Com- 


Introduction  23 

mons  (301  to  267)  it  was  thrown  out  by  the  Lords  by  419 
to  41,  and  his  successor,  Lord  Rosebery,  had  no  mind  to 
renew  the  contest. 

GLADSTONE'S  FOREIGN  POLICY 

The  Gladstonian  foreign  policy  was  such  as  might  have 
been  expected  from  a  leader  whose  motto  was  "Peace, 
Retrenchment,  and  Reform."  It  was  never  aggressive, 
and  in  the  opinion  of  many,  it  was  lacking  in  the  assertion 
of  British  rights.  Thus,  in  1871,  when  Russia  refused  to 
be  bound  longer  by  the  treaty  stipulations  forbidding  her 
to  maintain  a  war  fleet  on  the  Euxine,  Mr.  Gladstone  did 
not  hold  her  to  her  engagement.  In  England  it  was 
thought  to  be  a  sign  of  weakness  in  his  government  to 
allow  the  "Alabama"  and  "San  Juan  Boundary"  ques- 
tions to  be  settled  by  arbitrators  instead  of  by  diplomacy 
or  a  show  of  force.  In  1881,  when  the  Boers  of  the 
Transvaal  had  worsted  the  British  at  Majuba  Hill,  they 
received  from  Gladstone  an  honorable  peace  instead  of 
extermination.  The  abandonment  of  the  Egyptian  Sou- 
dan, in  1883,  which  carried  with  it  the  massacre  of  General 
Gordon,  at  Khartoum,  was  perhaps  the  heaviest  load  that 
the  Gladstonian  foreign  policy  ever  had  to  bear. 

DISRAELI   AND    IMPERIALISM 

Foreign  affairs  were  the  field  of  Disraeli's  most  bril- 
liant exploits.  "He  had  two  ruling  ideas, "  says  the  histo- 
rian Oman,  "the  first  was  the  conception  of  England  as  an 
imperial  world-power,  interested  in  European  politics,  but 
still  more  interested  in  the  maintenance  and  development 
of  her  vast  colonial  and  Indian  empire.  This  is  the  notion 
which  friends  and  enemies  now  using  the  word  in  different 


24  Ten  Englishmen 

senses  call  'imperialism.'  The  second  ruling  thought  in 
Disraeli's  mind  was  the  conviction  that  the  Conservative 
party  ought  to  step  forward  as  rival  to  the  Liberal  party 
in  commanding  the  sympathies  and  allegiance  of  the 
masses."  In  pursuance  of  this  second  idea  he  took  the 
"leap  in  the  dark,"  in  1867,  carrying  a  reform  bill  which 
was  but  little  short  of  democratic  in  its  extension  of  the 
right  to  vote.  This  was  followed  up  by  legislation  favor- 
ing the  English  tenant-farmers,  and  improving  the  con- 
dition of  workingmen  in  towns.  Even  after  Disraeli  s 
death,  Lord  Salisbury  continued  his  domestic  policy, 
instituting  local  government  by  means  of  county  councils 
in  1888,  making  the  schools  free  in  1891,  and  refunding 
the  national  debt  in  1888. 

It  was  a  great  day  for  the  British  empire  when  Dis- 
raeli's telegram  to  the  hard-pressed  Khedive  of  Egypt,  in 
1875,  bought  for  England  the  controlling  interest  in  the 
Suez  Canal,  the  water-gate  to  India.  It  was  a  bold  stroke 
of  Disraeli's  also  which,  at  the  close  of  the  Russo-Turkish 
War  of  1877-78,  compelled  the  victor  to  take  his  paw 
from  the  throat  of  his  victim  and  submit  the  treaty  to  a 
congress  of  the  powers  at  Berlin,  where  its  terms  were 
modified  and  England  was  admitted  to  its  benefits.  The 
Second  Afghan  War  (1878-80),  and  the  Zulu  War 
(1878-79),  and  the  Boer  War,  which  brought  little  glory 
to  Britain,  were  the  direct  result  of  the  Prime  Minister's 
desire  to  extend  the  empire  and  strengthen  its  frontiers. 
It  may  have  been  theatrical,  but  it  was  certainly  impressive 
to  the  assembled  princes  of  India  when  Lord  Lytton,  the 
Viceroy,  proclaimed  Victoria  Empress  of  India  in  Delhi, 
the  old  capital  of  the  Moguls,  on  January  I,  1877.  And 
though  Disraeli  (raised  to  the  peerage  as  Lord  Beacons- 


Introduction  25 

field)  was  in  his  grave,  his  spirit  dominated  the  pageantry 
of  1887  and  1897,  when  every  nation  and  tribe  and  kindred 
and  people  of  the  Greater  Britain  sent  representatives  to 
London  to  celebrate  the  jubilee  and  diamond  jubilee  of 
the  Empress-Queen,  to  whose  aggrandizement  he  had  con- 
tributed so  effectively. 

AFTER   A    HUNDRED    YEARS 

The  century  closes  upon  another  England  than  that 
which  was  struggling  against  Napoleon  at  its  dawn. 
Instead  of  the  "right  little  tight  little  island,"  a  compact 
and  self-contained  nation,  it  is  now  the  head  of  an  empire 
comparable  in  extent  and  population  with  no  other  since 
the  Rome  of  Augustus.  Canada,  Federal  Australia, 
New  Zealand,  and  South  Africa  form  a  Greater  Britain, 
while  the  subject  lands  and  islands  dot  the  globe.  The 
problem  which  confronts  the  English  at  the  end  of  the 
century  is  not  whether  they  can  hold  their  own  against  a 
foreign  power  as  in  the  days  of  Waterloo,  but  whether  all 
these  British  commonwealths  can  be  made  to  work  together 
in  some  sort  of  federal  union,  or  whether  the  present  ties 
are  to  dissolve  or  snap  asunder  and  girdle  the  globe  with 
independent  states  like  the  American  republic,  where  each 
may  be  free  to  develop  under  its  peculiar  conditions  the 
genius  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW 

1.  How  was  England  situated  at  the  opening  of  the  nine- 
teenth century? 

2.  What  did  the  names  Hohenlinden,  Trafalgar,  and  Aus- 
terlitz  mean  to  England? 

3.  Sum  up  briefly  the  career  of  Wellesley. 

4.  How  did  Canning's   policy    mark  a   turning-point  in 
British  foreign  affairs? 


26  Ten  Englishmen 

,  5.    What  was  the  result  of  the  Catholic  agitation? 

6.  How  did  the  locomotive  influence  England's  empire? 

7.  How  was  Parliament  changed  by  the  Reform  Bill? 

8.  What  changes  in  the  Poor  Laws  were  at  once  under- 
taken? 

9.  What  action  regarding  slavery  and  Irish  taxation? 

10.  What  was  the  Chartist  agitation? 

1 1.  Describe  the  agitation  for  "  repeal." 

12.  Why  did  the  Corn  Laws  become  intolerable? 

13.  What  reforms  were  wrought  through  the  influence  of 
the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury? 

14.  Through  what  foreign  complications  did  England  pass 
under  Palmerston? 

15.  What  important  abuses  were  corrected  under  Glad- 
stone's leadership? 

16.  Describe  his  dealings  with  the  Irish  question. 

17.  How  were  certain  great  foreign  matters  dealt  with  by 
his  government? 

18.  What    brilliant    foreign    achievements    were    accom- 
plished by  Disraeli? 

19.  What  is  England's  problem  in  the  twentieth  century? 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

History  of  England  During  the  Thirty  Years'  Peace,  By 
Harriet  Martineau. 

History  of  England  Since  /5/j.     By  Spencer  Walpole. 

The  History  of  Our  Own  Times.     By  Justin  McCarthy. 

England  in  the  XlXth  Century.  By  Elizabeth  Wormely 
La  timer. 

The  Greville  Memoirs.    Edited  by  Henry  Reeve. 

History  of  the  Chartist  Movement.     By  R.  G.  Gammage. 

The  Reign  of  Queen  Victoria.  Edited  by  T.  Humphrey 
Ward. 

History  of  England.    By  W.  N.  Molesworth. 


II 

WELLINGTON,  AND   THE   STRUGGLE   WITH 
NAPOLEON 

[ARTHUR  WELLESLEY,  Duke  of  Wellington,  born  in  Ireland, 
1769;  died  Walmer  Castle,  September  14,  1852;  educated  at 
Eton  and  at  Angers;  entered  Seventy-third  Regiment  as 
ensign,  1787;  purchased  lieutenant-colonelcy  of  Thirty-third 
Regiment,  1793;  served  in  Holland  expedition,  1794-95;  1796, 
in  India  with  his  regiment;  1803,  major-general,  commands 
in  Mahratta  War,  victory  at  Assaye;  1805,  in  England;  1806, 
member  of  Parliament;  1807,  Secretary  for  Ireland;  1808,  in 
Portugal;  1809-13,  chief  in  command  in  Peninsula,  clears 
Portugal  and  Spain  of  the  French;  1814,  English  Ambassa- 
dor at  Paris;  1815,  defeats  Napoleon  at  Waterloo;  1815, 
commander-in-chief  of  allied  army  in  France;  1818,  master- 
general  of  the  ordnance;  1822,  represents  England  at  Con- 
gress of  Verona;  1828-30,  Prime  Minister;  1829,  grants 
Catholic  emancipation;  1834-35,  Foreign  Secretary;  1841, 
commander-in-chief.  Buried  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.] 

In  February,  1/92,  William  Pitt,  Prime  Minister  of 
George  III.,  unfolding  his  annual  budget  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  declared,  "Unquestionably  there  never  was 
a  time  in  the  history  of  this  country  when,  from  the  situ- 
ation of  Europe,  we  might  more  reasonably  expect  fifteen 
years  of  peace,  than  at  the  present  moment."  Yet  within 
a  twelvemonth  after  this  utterance,  apparently  sincere, 
France  and  England  were  plunged  into  a  war  which 
lasted,  with  but  one  brief  intermission,  until  1815.  It 
embroiled  in  succession  nearly  every  nation  in  Europe. 

27 


28  Ten  Englishmen 

In  France  it  provided  a  theater  for  the  genius  of  Napo- 
leon, who  after  conquering  in  turn  the  best  soldiers  of  the 
continent,  was  to  meet  his  match  in  the  Duke  of  Welling- 
ton on  the  field  of  Waterloo. 

The  first  period  of  the  war  mainly  antedates  the  cen- 
tury which  we  are  considering.  In  1793  the  Convention, 
the  revolutionary  body  which  had  taken  the  place  of  the 
overturned  French  monarchy,  declared  war  on  Holland 
and  England.  Pitt  was  still  at  the  head  of  King  George 
III.'s  ministry,  and  the  conduct  of  the  war  devolved 
upon  him.  Her  insular  position  and  powerful  fleet 
rendered  England  safe  from  invasion,  but  her  active  par- 
ticipation in  the  military  operations  upon  the  continent 
was  limited  in  measure  and  distressing  in  outcome.  The 
expeditions  which  she  landed  in  the  Netherlands  were 
shockingly  inadequate  in  numbers,  and  led  by  high-born 
generals  without  knowledge,  talent,  or  experience.  It  is 
little  wonder  that  they  accomplished  nothing  except  to 
feed  the  French  contempt  for  English  arms. 

Successive  coalitions  were  formed  by  the  energetic  Pitt 
with  Prussia,  Austria,  and  other  nations  to  check  the 
advance  of  the  republican  armies  in  which,  after  1795, 
the  figure  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte  leaped  into  prominence. 
His  victories  disintegrated  these  alliances,  which  had  been 
cemented  with  English  gold.  At  the  same  time  his  vic- 
tories so  strengthened  his  personal  hold  upon  the  army 
and  the  nation  that  he  was  able  to  make  himself  absolute 
master  of  France. 

The  Peace  of  Amiens  (March,  1802,  to  May,  1803) 
afforded  the  only  breathing  space  in  all  these  twenty-two 
years  of  warfare.  Napoleon,  now  first  consul,  was  soon 
to  change  that  republican  mask  for  the  honest  and  ambi- 


Wellington,  and  Struggle  with  Napoleon     29 

tious  title  of  emperor.  The  hollowness  of  the  peace  soon 
became  evident.  Under  its  cloak  French  ships  were  build- 
ing and  French  armies  mustering  in  the  channel  ports  for 
the  invasion  of  England.  The  character  of  the  strife  had 
now  radically  changed.  At  the  outset,  ten  years  before, 
England  had  joined  hands  with  the  continental  monarchies 
to  check  the  spread  of  the  liberal  ideas  which  the  French 
republican  armies  were  carrying  on  their  bayonets  in  a 
species  of  crusade  in  the  name  of  liberty.  But  with  the 
accession  of  Bonaparte  to  the  throne  of  the  Bourbons, 
England  was  plunged  into  a  struggle  for  existence.  Napo- 
leon himself  said  that  peace  could  never  prevail  in  Europe 
so  long  as  England  had  the  power  to  disturb  it,  and  all 
parties  in  England  were  resolved  to  combat  to  the  last  the 
establishment  of  a  vast  and  menacing  military  despotism 
beyond  the  Straits  of  Dover. 

The  genius  of  Admiral  Nelson  preserved  the  command 
of  the  narrow  seas  for  England,  and  forced  the  Emperor 
to  abandon  his  project  of  invasion  which  had  aroused  the 
English  nation  to  unprecedented  military  activity.  Pitt's 
subsidies  had  again  set  the  continental  armaments  in  mo- 
tion, but  Napoleon's  brilliant  dash  into  Germany  brought 
these  to  naught  in  the  battle  of  Austerlitz,  which  destroyed 
the  Third  Coalition  and  brought  Austria  to  terms.  It 
was  this  news  that  the  great  Prime  Minister  of  George  III. 
took  so  to  heart.  He  survived  the  disaster  but  a  few 
weeks.  But  the  ministry  of  "All  the  Talents"  took  up 
his  task  with  no  thought  of  abandoning  the  struggle. 
The  death  of  Fox  soon  broke  up  this  administration,  but 
those  of  Portland,  Perceval,  and  Liverpool,  which  followed, 
were  as  dogged  in  their  resolution  to  spend  the  last  pound, 
and  the  last  man,  if  need  were,  in  ridding  Europe  of  the 


30  Ten  Englishmen 

conqueror  whose  existence  England  had  now  come  to 
regard  as  a  threat  against  her  national  independence. 

As  his  conquests  added  state  after  state  to  the  territory 
in  which  his  word  was  law,  Napoleon  developed  new  tac- 
tics against  England.  He  conceived  it  practicable  to 
crush  that  commercial  and  manufacturing  power  by 
excluding  her  goods  from  the  markets  of  Europe.  This 
"continental  system"  was  inaugurated  in  November, 
1806,  by  the  Berlin  Decree  which  closed  the  ports  of 
Europe  to  British  vessels,  and  declared  a  paper  blockade 
against  the  British  Isles.  This  policy  he  forced  upon 
nation  after  nation,  to  which  his  conquests  extended. 
England  retaliated  by  the  "Orders  in  Council,"  which 
declared  a  blockade  against  the  French  ports,  and  author- 
ized the  seizure  of  neutral  vessels  found  trading  with 
them.  By  a  naval  raid  in  September,  1807,  the  British 
swooped  down  on  Denmark  and  carried  off  the  Danish 
fleet  to  keep  that  weapon  from  falling  into  the  Emperor's 
hands.  Two  months  later,  in  anticipation  of  a  British 
descent,  French  armies  seized  Portugal  and  entered  Spain. 

Up  to  the  entrance  of  the  French  into  the  Spanish 
Peninsula,  the  protracted  hostilities  had  brought  little 
advantage  to  the  British  arms  except  on  the  sea.  It  was 
the  Peninsular  War,  precipitated  by  this  fresh  encroach- 
ment of  Napoleon,  which  first  gave  a  laurel  to  the  English 
arms  and  prepared  Wellington  for  Waterloo.  Napoleon 
and  the  soldier  who  was  to  overthrow  him  were  born  in 
the  same  year.  The  babe  whom  the  world  was  to  know 
as  the  Duke  of  Wellington  was  christened  in  Dublin  in 
May,  1769,  by  the  name  of  Arthur  Wesley.  (In  1798 
the  older  spelling  of  the  family  name,  Wellesley,  was 
resumed.)  He  was  descended  from  English  ancestors 


Wellington,  and  Struggle  with  Napoleon      31 

long  resident  in  Ireland,  and  was  himself  the  fourth  son 
of  the  Earl  of  Mornington.  The  death  of  the  Earl  when 
Arthur  was  but  twelve  years  old  left  the  family  in  slender 
circumstances.  Richard,  the  eldest  son  and  successor  to 
the  title,  had  achieved  high  university  honors,  but  Arthur 
was  a  slow  student  of  everything  save  music  and  mathe- 
matics. After  a  brief  residence  at  Eton  he  entered  a 
higher  institution  at  Angers,  in  France.  His  mother 
thought  him  worth  nothing  better  than  "food  for  powder," 
and  at  eighteen  he  obtained  a  commission  as  ensign  in  the 
Seventy-sixth  Regiment  of  British  Foot.  Family  influ- 
ence and  the  purchase  of  his  "steps"  soon  made  him  a 
lieutenant-colonel  (1793)  of  the  Thirty-third  Foot.  He 
had  already  been  three  years  a  member  of  the  Irish  House 
of  Commons,  where,  however,  he  did  not  distinguish 
himself. 

England  was  now  at  war  with  France,  and  Colonel 
Arthur  Wellesley's  first  foreign  service  was  in  1794,  when 
his  regiment  was  sent  to  the  support  of  the  Duke  of  York, 
who  was  near  the  end  of  his  ignominious  campaign  in  the 
Low  Countries.  In  March,  1795,  he  was  back  in  Eng- 
land, disgusted  with  the  incompetency  of  his  superiors. 
Of  the  value  of  this  experience  he  afterward  said,  "Why, 
I  learned  what  one  ought  not  to  do,  and  that  is  always 
something."  At  the  time,  however,  he  was  less  philo- 
sophical, and  after  consulting  with  his  wise  elder  brother 
as  to  the  future  possibilities  of  distinction  in  military  life, 
he  applied  for  a  civil  office  under  the  Lord  Lieutenant  of 
England. 

Instead  of  droning  out  his  life  in  a  treasury  clerkship, 
Wellesley  found  a  more  strenuous  career  abroad.  In  the 
autumn  of  1795  his  regiment  was  ordered  to  India,  where 


32  Ten  Englishmen 

he  arrived  in  February,  1797.  A  year  later  his  already 
famous  brother  Richard,  Lord  Mornington,  came  out  as 
Governor-general.  The  brothers  were  sincerely  devoted 
to  each  other,  and  co-operated  cordially  in  the  important 
operations  which  followed.  The  English  possessions  in 
India  were  then  limited  to  the  coast  regions,  the  kings  and 
princes  of  the  states  of  the  interior  being  variously  bound 
to  the  East  India  Company  by  treaty  engagements.  The 
news  of  the  victorious  progress  of  the  French  arms  in 
Europe  lost  nothing  by  repetition  in  the  bazaars  of  Hin- 
dustan, and  emissaries  of  France  were  not  wanting  to  stir 
the  native  princes  against  England.  Bonaparte's  expe- 
dition to  Egypt  in  1798  revealed  his  intention  to  attack 
England  through  her  Indian  realm.  In  February,  1799, 
the  Governor-general  declared  war  against  Tippoo,  Sultan 
of  Mysore,  a  powerful  prince,  who  had  been  plotting  in 
the  French  interest.  The  younger  Weliesley  had  con- 
tributed much  to  the  efficient  organization  of  the  army 
which  was  to  invade  the  Sultan's  territory,  and  after  the 
fall  of  Seringapatam  he  distinguished  himself  by  his  firm 
and  orderly  administration  of  the  conquered  domain.  In 
1802,  the  year  of  the  Peace  of  Amiens,  he  was  made  a 
major-general.  When  the  news  of  the  treaty  with  France 
reached  him,  his  opinion  was  emphatically  expressed:  "It 
establishes  the  French  power  over  Europe,  and  when  we 
shall  have  disarmed  we  shall  have  no  security  except  in 
our  own  abjectness."  The  conquest  of  Mysore  left  only 
the  Mahratta  confederacy  undominated  by  British  author- 
ity. These  states,  a  vast  domain  in  western  and  central 
India,  having  quarreled  among  themselves,  applied  to  the 
British  for  aid.  General  Weliesley  secured  the  close  alli- 
ance of  one  party,  and  as  commander-in-chief,  took  the 


Wellington,  and  Struggle  with  Napoleon      33 

field  against  the  others.  On  the  23d  of  September,  1803, 
he  found  himself  with  seven  thousand  five  hundred  men  in 
the  presence  of  the  Mahratta  host  of  fifty  thousand  men 
with  one  hundred  and  twenty-eight  guns.  Retreat  was 
difficult,  speedy  reinforcement  impossible.  The  young 
major-general  determined  an  attack  immediately,  and 
handling  his  little  army  with  great  skill  and  intrepid  cour- 
age, he  routed  the  enemy  in  the  great  victory  of  Assay e, 
which  broke  the  Mahratta  power.  For  his  exploits  he 
received  the  thanks  of  King  and  Parliament,  and  was 
dubbed  a  Knight  of  the  Bath. 

General  Sir  Arthur  Wellesley  returned  to  England  in 
1805,  after  seven  years  absence  in  India.  On  his  way  he 
touched  at  the  Isle  of  St.  Helena,  and  took  note  of  its 
beautiful  scenery  and  salubrious  climate.  Doubtless  the 
impression  then  made  was  recalled  ten  years  later,  when 
it  became  necessary  to  select  a  safe  residence  for  his 
defeated  foe.  To  one  who  expressed  surprise  that  a  man 
of  his  solid  achievement  should  receive  but  a  subordinate 
post  as  that  to  which  he  was  assigned  on  his  return  to 
England,  General  Wellesley  said,  "I  am  nim  nnik  -wallah, 
as  we  say  in  the  East.  I  have  eaten  of  the  King's  salt 
and  therefore  I  conceive  it  to  be  my  duty  to  serve  with 
zeal  and  cheerfulness  when  and  wherever  the  King  or  his 
government  may  think  fit  to  employ  me."  This  expres- 
sion explains  his  lifelong  attitude  toward  the  crown.  He 
considered  himself  its  "retained  servant." 

It  was  two  years  before  his  talents  were  properly  util- 
ized. Meanwhile  he  was  member  of  Parliament  and 
secretary  to  the  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland.  The  Penin- 
sular War  was  his  opportunity.  Napoleon  had  sent 
Marshal  Junot  to  Lisbon  with  an  army  to  seize  the  coun- 


34  Ten  Englishmen 

try  and  force  it  into  his  continental  system,  the  royal 
family  retiring  to  Brazil  as  he  advanced.  At  almost  the 
same  time,  by  a  series  of  conscienceless  machinations,  he 
had  compelled  the  King  of  Spain  to  abdicate,  and  had 
occupied  Madrid  and  the  fortresses  of  the  northern  prov- 
inces. In  spite  of  popular  risings  against  the  French, 
Napoleon  made  his  brother  Joseph  King  of  Spain.  At 
once  revolt  flamed  out  among  the  common  people,  and  the 
insurrection  spread  through  both  kingdoms,  and  was 
accepted  in  England  as  an  invitation  to  come  to  their 
relief. 

Pitt  had  foreseen  amid  the  shadows  of  the  defeat  of 
Austerlitz  that  the  Iberian  Peninsula  might  be  the  final 
field  of  resistance  to  Napoleon,  and  now  events  had 
brought  his  successors  to  the  same  view.  It  was  access- 
ible by  England's  ocean  highway,  its  people  were  high- 
spirited,  and  impatient  of  foreign  domination,  and  a 
successful  campaign  there  would  threaten  the  French 
flank.  In  June,  1808,  an  expedition  was  dispatched  to 
the  aid  of  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  insurrectionists, 
and  the  command  was  given  to  Lieutenant-General  Sir 
Arthur  Wellesley.  The  night  before  he  left  London  he 
said  to  the  friend  who  interrupted  his  reverie,  "Why,  I 

am  thinking  of  the  French 'Tis  enough  to  make 

one  thoughtful.  But  no  matter;  my  die  is  cast.  They 
may  overwhelm  me,  but  I  don't  think  they  will  out-ma- 

noeuver  me I  suspect  all  the  continental  armies 

were  more  than  half-beaten  before  the  battle  was  begun. 
I  at  least  will  not  be  beaten  beforehand." 

The  qualities  which  fitted  this  officer  for  the  heavy 
work  in  hand  were  those  which  had  been  developed  and 
tested  in  India.  He  was,  first  of  all,  a  worker  of  sur- 


Wellington,  and  Struggle  with  Napoleon      35 

passing  industry  and  the  closest  application.  Where 
others  were  brilliant,  he  was  thorough.  No  commander 
ever  left  less  to  chance  or  to  the  inspiration  of  the  moment. 
He  prepared  for  his  campaigns  by  subjecting  his  troops 
to  the  most  thorough  drill  and  by  providing  them  properly 
with  all  the  munitions  of  war.  His  troops  were  shaped 
by  incessant  care  and  pains  into  a  perfect  weapon,  the  use 
of  which  he  perfectly  understood.  Further  than  this,  his 
experience  in  India,  where  conditions  had  made  him  the 
responsible  administrator  of  vast  native  states,  made  him 
the  right  man  to  conduct  a  campaign  in  the  peninsula, 
where,  between  the  French  and  the  Nationalists,  civil 
administration  had  fallen  into  great  disorder,  and  where  all 
sorts  of  extraordinary  tasks  devolved  upon  the  British 
representative.  His  management  of  his  uncertain  allies, 
the  guerrilla  chiefs,  and  his  relations  with  the  revolutionary 
"juntas"  called  for  qualities  as  rare  as  those  which 
defeated  one  after  another  of  Napoleon's  marshals  and 
finally  worsted  the  great  captain  himself.  Thoroughness 
of  preparation,  the  ability  to  see  things  as  they  are,  to 
wait  patiently,  decide  promptly,  and  act  with  energy — 
these  are  perhaps  simple  military  virtues,  but  they  bring 
success,  and  they  were  in  high  degree  the  possession  of 
the  young  Indian  officer,  who  was  now  to  undertake  a  diffi- 
cult campaign  in  a  foreign  country.  The  event  proved 
that  with  such  qualities  a  general  may  compass  the  most 
difficult  tasks,  though  he  may  be  "cold"  in  temperament, 
and  incapable  of  kindling  in  the  breasts  of  his  men  that' 
passionate  personal  devotion  which  some  hold  to  be  the 
true  test  of  a  great  soldier. 

Wellesley    disembarked    his    expeditionary    force    in 
August,  at  Mondego  Bay,  a  hundred  miles  north  of  Lis- 


36  Ten  Englishmen 

bon,  which  Junot  held  with  twelve  thousand  men.  Junot 
advanced  to  meet  the  English,  and  at  Vimiero  Wellesley 
met  and  defeated  the  first  of  Napoleon's  marshals.  Before 
the  close  of  the  day  the  arrival  of  a  superior  officer  termi- 
nated Wellesley's  command.  He  had,  however,  inflicted 
such  a  blow  that  Junot  was  glad  to  sign  a  convention 
which  permitted  him  to  evacuate  the  kingdom.  Welles- 
ley  returned  to  England. 

In  the  spring  of  1809  Wellesley  was  back  in  Lisbon. 
He  had  persuaded  the  government  that  Portugal  could  be 
defended  and  made  the  base  of  operations  which  should 
eventually  clear  the  entire  peninsula  of  the  French.  They 
had  intrusted  the  chief  command  to  him,  and  now  left  him 
free  for  four  years  to  press  his  campaigns  to  the  Spanish 
capital,  and  thence  to  the  Pyrenees  and  beyond  upon  the 
very  soil  of  France  itself. 

He  was  watched  by  two  French  armies.  Soult  was  at 
Oporto  in  the  north,  and  Victor  far  up  the  Tagus  Valley, 
between  him  and  Madrid.  By  an  unexpected  movement, 
having  surprised  Soult  and  sent  him  headlong  beyond  the 
frontier,  Wellesley  crossed  the  border  in  quest  of  Victor. 
The  armies  clashed  at  Talavera,  in  the  last  days  of  June,  in 
one  of  the  most  stubbornly  contested  engagements  of  the 
war.  The  English  kept  possession  of  the  field,  and, 
though  Joseph  Bonaparte  congratulated  his  soldiers  upon 
the  glory  of  the  "victory,"  he  knew  in  his  heart,  as  his 
greater  brother  told  him  to  his  face,  that  the  battle  was  a 
French  defeat. 

Conditions  were  not  yet  suited  for  an  advance  into 
Spain,  where  the  French  were  gathering  in  enormous 
force,  with  instructions  from  Napoleon  to  "advance  upon 
the  English,  pursue  them  without  cessation,  beat  them, 


Wellington,  and  Struggle  with  Napoleon      37 

and  fling  them  into  the  sea."  To  insure  his  forces  against 
the  execution  of  this  mandate  Wellesley  constructed  a  cres- 
cent of  earthworks  about  Lisbon,  "the  lines  of  Torres 
Vedras, "  within  which  he  might  take  refuge,  and  under 
cover  of  which,  as  a  last  resort,  his  forces  might  be  safely 
re-embarked  for  retreat.  The  veteran  Massena  was 
selected  by  the  Emperor  to  drive  the  English  out  of  Por- 
tugal. As  he  advanced,  in  the  summer  of  1810,  Wellesley 
retired  before  him,  and  just  when  the  pursuer  believed  the 
game  was  his,  he  was  confronted  by  the  impregnable  lines 
of  Torres  Vedras,  whose  position  and  strength  was  all 
unsuspected.  All  winter  Massena  hovered  about  the 
hole,  but  the  fox  was  safe  in  his  earth,  and  in  the  spring 
the  old  hound  again  turned  his  face  toward  Spain,  with 
the  English  on  his  trail. 

For  another  year  the  English  general,  who,  in  honor 
of  Talavera,  had  been  raised  to  the  peerage  as  Viscount 
Wellington,  was  engaged  in  reducing  the  French  garrisons, 
and  forming  into  useful  auxilliary  troops  the  raw  Portu- 
guese who  had  risen  against  the  invader.  The  capture  of 
the  fortress  of  Ciudad  Rodrigo  (January,  1812)  opened 
the  road  to  Spain.  So  important  was  this  point  that  the 
captor  was  rewarded  for  it  with  an  English  earldom,  a 
Spanish  dukedom,  and  a  Portuguese  marquisate.  In 
early  summer  Wellington's  army  took  the  offensive  on 
Spanish  soil.  Marshal  Marmont's  army  at  Salamanca  in 
the  north  was  his  first  objective.  The  clash  came  on  the 
22d  of  July.  On  the  second  day  of  the  battle  of  Sala- 
manca the  English  infantry  crushed  the  weakened  center 
of  Marmont's  line,  the  marshal  was  wounded,  his  army 
hurriedly  retreated.  On  the  I2th  of  August  the  English 
were  in  Madrid.  The  Bonaparte  King  fled  from  his  capi- 


38  Ten  Englishmen 

tal,  whose  citizens,  intoxicated  with  joy,  crowded  around 
the  English  general,  hung  on  his  stirrups,  touched  his 
clothes,  and  throwing  themselves  on  the  earth,  blessed 
him  aloud  as  the  friend  of  Spain! 

The  work  of  deliverance  was  by  no  means  complete. 
Wellington's  army  was  small,  and  the  support  of  the 
Spanish  auxiliaries  was  not  to  be  counted  upon.  Though 
the  Emperor  was  in  Russia,  some  of  his  best  marshals  and 
a  powerful  army  were  opposed  to  the  English  in  Spain. 
It  was  only  the  most  skilful  management,  in  which  caution 
and  audacity  were  blended,  that  brought  Wellington  safely 
out  of  his  dangerous  position  in  Spain,  and  allowed  him 
to  retire  to  winter  quarters  on  the  Portuguese  frontier. 
The  effect  of  the  campaign  upon  the  Spaniards  had  been 
to  give  him  the  chief  command  of  the  national  forces. 
England  realizing  that  the  general  whose  coming  had 
been  so  long  awaited  was  found  at  last,  made  Welling- 
ton a  marquis,  and  voted  him  the  thanks  of  the  Lords  and 
Commons  and  one  hundred  thousand  pounds,  besides 
sending  him  the  reinforcements  of  cavalry  which  he 
needed  for  his  broad  plan  of  operations  for  the  next 
campaign. 

The  winter  of  1812-13,  which  Wellington  devoted  to 
his  comprehensive  preparations,  saw  the  disastrous  retreat 
of  Napoleon  from  the  snows  of  Russia.  From  that  blow 
he  never  recovered,  and  thenceforward  he  could  do  little 
to  support  his  eagles  in  the  peninsula.  The  recall  of 
Soult  further  weakened  the  resistance.  In  May,  Welling- 
ton bade  farewell  to  Portugal  and  recrossed  the  Spanish 
frontier,  advancing  on  Madrid  from  the  northwest.  The 
King  and  his  army  retired  toward  France.  Wellington 
overtook  them  at  Vittoria  (June  21)  and  fought  them, 


Wellington,  and  Struggle  with  Napoleon     39 

capturing  their  guns,  baggage,  and  Spanish  plunder, 
though  Joseph  and  the  main  French  army  escaped  north- 
ward through  the  passes  of  the  Pyrenees. 

Soult  came  posthaste  from  Dresden  to  resume  com- 
mand. He  found  the  army  of  Spain  encamped  on  French 
soil,  led  it  through  the  passes  again,  but  the  English  could 
not  be  dislodged.  In  October  an  English  general  for  the 
first  time  since  Napoleon  came  to  power  stood  on  French 
soil  at  the  head  of  an  invading  army.  Soult,  forced  away 
from  Bayonne,  fell  back  on  Toulouse,  where  Wellington 
dealt  him  another  blow  on  April  14,  1814.  That  blow 
was  the  last.  Just  one  week  earlier  Napoleon,  driven 
back  from  the  Rhine  to  Paris  by  the  allied  armies  on  the 
northeast,  had  abdicated  the  throne  which  had  cost  so 
much  blood  and  treasure. 

Wellington  visited  Paris  and  Madrid,  and  then  returned 
to  London.  Five  years  earlier  he  had  left  England  as  Sir 
Arthur  Wellesley;  he  came  back  Duke  of  Wellington.  His 
own  remark  upon  his  campaigns  contrasts  strangely  with 
the  spirit  of  the  Frenchman,  whose  best  generals  he  had 
out-manoeuvered  and  overwhelmed.  He  was  "a.  conqueror 
without  ambition,"  he  said.  "All  the  world  knew  that  I 
desired  nothing  but  to  beat  the  French  out  of  Spain  and 
then  go  home  to  rry  own  country,  leaving -the  Spaniards 
to  manage  theirs  as  they  pleased."  England  lavished 
honors  upon  the  hero  of  the  Peninsular  War.  Parliament 
thanked  him,  granted  him  four  hundred  thousand  pounds. 
He  carried  the  sword  of  state  on  the  occasion  of  the  peace 
celebration  in  St.  Paul's  Cathedral.  London  banqueted 
him  in  Guildhall. 

For  a  summer  and  a  winter  the  Duke  represented  Eng- 
land at  Paris  and  Vienna  where  the  states  of  Europe  were 


40  Ten  Englishmen 

wrangling  over  the  restoration  of  the  continent  to  its  ante- 
bellum condition.  When  Napoleon  escaped  from  Elba 
and  was  welcomed  to  Paris  by  his  former  marshals,  Europe 
turned  to  Wellington  to  deliver  her  from  the  new  peril. 
On  the  25th  of  March,  1815,  Austria,  Russia,  Prussia, 
and  Great  Britain  formed  the  Quadruple  Alliance,  binding 
themselves  to  maintain  the  treaty  recently  signed  at  Paris, 
and  not  to  lay  down  arms  until  "Buonaparte  should  be 
placed  absolutely  beyond  possibility  of  exciting  disturbance 
and  renewing  his  attempts  to  possess  himself  of  the 
supreme  power  in  France." 

The  Duke  arrived  at  Brussels  on  the  4th  of  April  to 
take  command  of  the  allied  army.  Instead  of  the  grand 
armies  of  the  Quadruple  Alliance  he  found  a  composite 
force  of  some  twenty-five  thousand  English,  Dutch,  Bel- 
gians, Brunswickers,  and  Hanoverians.  The  Prussians 
had  thirty  thousand  men  within  co-operating  distance. 
In  comparison  with  the  thoroughly  disciplined  army  which 
he  had  developed  and  wielded  so  skilfully  in  the  peninsula 
this  force  cut  a  sorry  figure.  The  field-marshal's  bitterest 
complaint  was  that  his  government  had  not  even  provided 
him  with  the  admirable  staff  which  five  years  of  service 
had  made  so  familiar  with  his  methods  and  desires.  On 
the  very  verge  of  the  campaign  he  wrote,  "I  have  an 
infamous  army,  very  weak  and  ill  equipped,  and  a  very 
inexperienced  staff."  While  the  armies  of  Austria  and 
Russia  were  advancing  upon  France  the  Emperor  was 
setting  an  enormous  force  in  the  field.  It  was  his 
purpose  to  fall  upon  the  army  on  the  Belgian  frontier 
before  the  other  allies  could  enter  France.  For  the  inva- 
sion of  Belgium  he  selected  one  hundred  and  twenty-five 
thousand  men.  Prince  Blucher,  commanding  the  Prus- 


THE  DUKE  OF  WELLINGTON. 


Wellington,  and  Struggle  with  Napoleon     41 

sians,  now  had  as  many  men,  while  Wellington,  his  ally, 
commanded  some  ninety-three  thousand,  of  whom  barely 
one-third  were  British.  Five-sixths  of  the  British  infantry 
had  never  been  under  fire. 

Napoleon's  plan  was  to  thrust  his  army  between  Bliicher 
and  Wellington  and  defeat  them  in  succession.  On  the 
evening  of  June  I5th,  news  was  brought  to  the  Duke  at 
Brussels  that  the  enemy  had  passed  the  frontier  and  were 
engaging  the  Prussian  outposts.  He  at  once  gave  the 
necessary  orders  for  the  advance,  and  after  midnight 
showed  himself  at  the  now  famous  ball  of  the  Duchess  of 
Richmond.  At  eleven  the  next  forenoon  he  was  at  Quatre- 
Bras,  where  his  army  was  engaged  in  beating  off  an  attack 
by  Marshal  Ney,  while  Bliicher  was  being  pounded  by 
Napoleon  a  few  miles  to  the  eastward  at  Ligny.  Both 
the  allies  retreated,  but  instead  of  separating  as  Napoleon 
hoped  and  believed,  they  retired  along  converging  lines, 
the  English  to  Waterloo,  the  Prussians  to  Wavre,  the 
positions  being  connected  by  a  roadway.  Through  the 
rain  of  Saturday,  June  i/th,  Wellington  disposed  his 
sixty-nine  thousand  men  and  one  hundred  and  fifty-six 
guns  on  both  sides  of  the  Brussels  highway,  along  which 
Napoleon  advanced  on  the  morrow  with  seventy-two  thou- 
sand men  and  two  hundred  and  forty  cannon.  The  action 
opened  near  noon  on  the  i8th,  the  French  making  a  vain 
effort  to  carry  the  Chateau  of  Hougomont  on  the  British 
right.  Next  an  army  corps  was  hurled  at  the  center,  only 
to  be  stopped  by  Wellington's  cavalry  with  appalling  loss. 
In  the  afternoon  the  Emperor  delivered  a  series  of  cavalry 
attacks  upon  the  allied  center.  Twelve  thousand  horsemen 
thundered  up  the  gentle  slope  past  the  English  guns,  only 
to  break  against  the  bayonet-hedged  squares  of  the 


42  Ten  Englishmen 

infantry.  At  the  end  of  eight  hours'  fighting  the  French 
center  had  advanced  to  within  sixty  yards  of  the  British 
position,  but  the  line  still  held,  and  Bliicher's  Prussians 
were  rapidly  coming  up  on  the  right  flank.  Marshal 
Grouchy  having  failed  to  prevent  this  fatal  manceuver, 
Napoleon  shot  his  last  bolt,  sending  Ney  with  the  Old 
Guard  against  the  British  right.  But  "the  bravest  of  the 
brave  had  fought  his  last  battle,"  and  as  his  ten  battalions 
were  flung  back  in  disorder,  Wellington  gave  the  word  to 
his  whole  line  to  advance.  The  rush  of  his  reserves  of 
horse  scattered  the  remnants  of  the  tired  and  disheartened 
host.  The  wreck  of  the  grand  army  drifted  back  over  the 
border,  and  the  dispirited  Emperor,  having  risked  every- 
thing in  one  bold  experiment  and  lost,  hastened  to  Paris, 
and  after  a  vain  attempt  to  rally  the  nation  once  more 
about  his  standard,  abandoned  hope  and  sought  refuge  on 
board  the  "Bellerophon,"  British  man-of-war  (July  15, 
1815).  At  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  the  memorable 
day  of  Waterloo,  Bliicher  and  Wellington  met.  The  griz- 
zled Prussian  kissed  the  grave  Englishman  on  both  cheeks 
in  the  exuberance  of  his  joy.  Without  the  timely  support 
of  his  Germans,  that  day  might  have  had  another  ending. 

Waterloo  was  the  last  act  of  the  Napoleonic  struggle. 
The  Emperor  went  into  exile  at  St.  Helena  to  fret  against 
his  prison  bars  and  curse  his  keepers.  Wellington  had 
already  exhausted  his  country's  sources  of  honor.  All 
that  Parliament  could  do  was  to  present  the  fine  estate  of 
Strathfieldsaye  to  him  and  his  heirs  on  condition  of  pre- 
senting a  French  tri-color  flag  to  the  sovereign  at  Windsor 
on  each  anniversary  of  the  1 8th  of  June. 

Wellington  was  above  all  a  soldier,  but  for  tne  remain- 
ing thirty-six  years  of  his  lifetime  his  country  had  little 


Wellington,  and  Struggle  with  Napoleon    43 

employment  for  the  sword.  Yet  the  esteem  in  which  he 
was  held,  not  only  for  his  military  achievements,  but  for 
his  honesty  and  common  sense,  made  him  a  conspicuous 
figure  in  public  affairs  for  most  of  his  long  life.  After 
Waterloo  he  remained  in  France,  where  his  moderation 
saved  Paris  from  the  vengeance  of  the  continental  com- 
manders. Of  the  allied  army  of  occupation  which  remained 
in  France  until  1818,  Wellington  was  commander-in-chief. 
As  head  of  the  commission  which  passed  upon  the  foreign 
claims  for  damages  arising-  from  the  protracted  wars,  his 
fairness  again  saved  France  from  her  rapacious  creditors. 
His  work  on  the  continent  done,  Wellington  returned 
to  England  to  enter  the  public  service  as  a  member  of 
Lord  Liverpool's  cabinet.  In  1822  he  was  sent  to  repre- 
sent Great  Britain  at  the  Congress  of  the  Powers  at 
Verona,  where  he  frustrated  Russia's  intention  of  inter- 
fering in  the  affairs  of  Spain.  In  1826  he  was  sent  to 
Russia  on  a  special  mission  from  Canning  to  secure  the 
consent  of  the  new  Czar  to  English  intervention  in  behalf 
of  the  insurgent  Greeks.  On  the  death  of  the  King's 
brother,  the  Duke  of  York,  he  became  commander-in-chief 
of  the  army.  Disagreement  with  Canning  led  him  to 
withdraw  from  that  premier's  cabinet  in  April,  1827,  but 
in  the  following  January  (1828),  he  himself  became  Prime 
Minister,  with  Robert  Peel  as  Home  Secretary.  With  all 
his  Tory  loyalty  to  the  Church  his  administration  broke  its 
ancient  monopoly.  In  1828  he  allowed  the  Test  and  Cor- 
poration Acts  to  pass,  opening  the  way  for  Protestant 
dissenters  to  hold  civil  and  military  office.  In  1829  he 
concluded  that  relief  of  the  Roman  Catholics  of  Ireland 
from  their  political  disabilities  could  no  longer  be  post- 
poned. Peel  had  been  even  more  reluctant  than  his 


44  Ten  Englishmen 

chief — a  native  of  Ireland — to  reach  this  decision,  but  the 
growing  power  of  the  "Catholic  Association,"  the  popular 
organization  which  the  agitator  O'Connell  had  called 
into  existence,  compelled  immediate  action.  The  King 
was  reluctantly  brought  to  see  the  expediency  of  the  act, 
which,  when  proposed  by  Pitt  a  generation  before,  had  so 
stiffened  the  neck  of  his  father,  George  III.  Perhaps  no 
minister  whose  prestige  was  less  than  that  of  the  hero  of 
Waterloo  could  have  won  the  consent  of  the  Hanoverian 
monarch,  whose  dynasty  had  been  brought  to  England  for 
the  defense  of  the  Protestant  faith.  The  bill  for  the 
emancipation  of  the  Catholics  slid  easily  through  the 
Commons,  though  the  stiff  old  Tories  who  had  counted 
Wellington  as  of  their  number  voted  solidly  against  it. 
Even  the  Lords  failed  to  make  the  expected  resistance, 
and  accepted  the  measure  by  a  vote  of  two  to  one  despite 
the  known  preference  of  the  court  and  clergy,  and  a  bom- 
bardment of  Protestant  petitions.  One  peer  had  thus 
predicted  the  result  to  Macaulay,  who  was  in  doubt  as  to 
how  the  Duke  would  explain  the  bill  and  justify  his  change 
of  front:  "O,  that  will  be  simple  enough.  He'll  say,  'My 
Lords!  Attention!  Right  about  face!  Quick  march!' 
and  the  thing  will  be  done."  King  George  tried  to  slip 
out  of  his  pledges,  but  the  Iron  Duke  held  him  fast,  and 
the  1 3th  of  April,  1829,  the  act  became  a  law.  It  is  the 
chief  monument  of  the  Wellington  administration. 

Against  the  next  great  question,  the  reform  of  Parlia- 
ment, he  set  himself  resolutely,  expressing  his  opposition 
in  such  unmistakable  terms  as  to  forfeit  at  once  his  office 
and  his  popularity.  The  London  mob  stoned  his  windows, 
but  could  not  change  his  attitude  toward  legislation  which 
he  thought  pernicious  to  the  welfare  of  his  country.  He 


Wellington,  and  Struggle  with  Napoleon     45 

carried  on  his  opposition  when  the  reform  bills  began  to 
come  up  from  the  Commons  into  the  Peers'  chamber. 
On  the  l8th  of  June,  1832,  the  seventeenth  anniversary  of 
Waterloo,  he  was  pelted  with  stones  and  dirt  by  a  yelling 
mob  in  the  streets  of  London,  and  only  saved  from 
rougher  handling  by  two  old  soldiers  who  walked  at  his 
stirrups  and  held  back  the  ruffians  until  the  police  came  to 
the  rescue.  The  Reform  Bill  had  already  become  a  law, 
Wellington  and  his  irreconcilable  friends,  perceiving  the 
futility  of  further  obstruction,  absenting  themselves  from 
the  chamber  rather  than  vote  contrary  to  their  consciences. 
Even  after  the  reformed  Parliament  had  come  into  exist- 
ence this  arch  aristocrat  could  see  nothing  but  evil  in  the 
outlook.  He  complained  that  the  House  of  Commons 
"had  swallowed  up  all  the  power  of  the  state,"  and  he 
was  not  far  wrong.  Still  his  loyalty  to  the  crown,  and  his 
determination  that  the  government  should  be  upheld  kept 
him  from  merely  factious  opposition  and  made  him  a  use- 
ful servant  of  the  nation.  The  leader  of  the  majority  in 
the  House  of  Lords,  he  declined  to  use  his  position  to 
thwart  the  purposes  of  the  popular  House.  "I  do  not 
choose,"  he  said,  in  1834,  when  the  Poor  Law  Bill  was 
up,  "I  do  not  choose  to  be  the  person  to  excite  a  quarrel 
between  the  two  Houses  of  Parliament.  The  quarrel  will 
occur  in  its  time;  and  the  House  of  Lords  will  probably 
be  overwhelmed.  But  it  shall  not  be  owing  to  any  action 
of  mine."  It  was  in  this  year  that  a  singular  occurrence 
showed  his  unique  place  in  the  confidence  of  King  and 
nation.  In  November  the  King  dismissed  the  Melbourne 
ministry  and  called  on  the  Duke  to  form  another.  The 
latter  perceived  that  no  Tory  but  Peel  could  manage  the 
Commons,  but  Peel  was  then  traveling  on  the  Continent. 


46  Ten  Englishmen 

The  Duke  accordingly  undertook  to  carry  on  the  govern- 
ment alone  until  that  leader's  return.  And  for  five  weeks 
he  was  the  cabinet,  holding  all  the  high  offices — Treasury, 
Home,  Foreign,  and  Colonial — himself,  so  as  not  to 
embarrass  his  successor  by  making  appointments.  The 
Whigs  raised  a  great  outcry  against  this  one-man  power, 
but  the  people  rather  admired  the  industry  of  the  veteran 
who  rose  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  went  the 
rounds  of  the  departments  performing  the  routine  duties 
with  the  greatest  industry  and  fidelity  and  steadily  refusing 
to  use  his  enormous  power  and  patronage  for  personal  or 
factional  rule.  Sir  Herbert  Maxwell,  the  Duke's  latest 
biographer,  has  attempted  to  describe  the  Duke's  political 
creed  by  coining  a  term.  He  was  not  "an  impracticable 
Tory,"  as  the  Reformers  would  name  him,  nor  yet  a  mere 
"Tory  opportunist,"  as  sterner  Tories  would  have  it. 
"He  was  a  possiblist  rather  than  an  opportunist,  prepared 
to  resist  change  as  long  as  possible,  but  to  give  way  rather 
than  throw  the  power  into  the  hands  of  those  (Radicals) 
who,  he  honestly  believed,  would  wreck  the  realm." 

Wellington  was  foreign  secretary  in  Peel's  first  cabinet 
(1834-35),  and  commander-in-chief  in  the  second  (1841- 
46).  His  lifelong  political  theory  is  well  exemplified  by 
his  words  when  notified  by  the  Prime  Minister,  in  Novem- 
ber, 1845,  of  his  intention  to  suspend  the  Corn  Laws,  an 
act  most  offensive  to  his  party  and  social  class.  "My 
only  object  in  public  life  is  to  support  Sir  Robert  Peel's 
administration  of  the  government  for  the  Queen.  A  good 
government  for  the  country  is  more  important  than  Corn 
Laws."  In  much  the  same  words  the  aged  leader 
addressed  the  House  of  Lords  in  behalf  of  Peel's  Corn 
Bill,  and  though  bitterly  opposed  to  the  measure,  they 


Wellington,  and  Struggle  with  Napoleon     47 

accepted  his  guidance  and  gave  the  bill  their  assent.  In 
1848  there  were  many  who  believed  that  the  country  was 
on  the  brink  of  a  revolution.  The  Chartist  agitation  was 
culminating  in  the  presentation  of  the  great  petition  to 
Parliament,  and  half  a  million  men  were  to  escort  it  from 
Kennington  to  Westminster.  Wellington  was  nearing  his 
seventy-ninth  birthday,  but  the  government  turned  to  him 
to  organize  the  defense  of  the  capital  against  mob  vio- 
lence. The  old  warrior-blood  warmed  in  his  veins,  and 
he  amazed  the  ministers  by  the  clearness  of  his  plans  and 
the  energy  and  decision  with  which  he  carried  them  out. 
Though  the  affair  passed  off  without  disturbance,  being  at 
all  times  under  police  control,  so  thorough  were  the  Duke's 
preparations  as  to  have  made  a  successful  revolution 
impossible. 

To  his  latest  year  the  Duke  continued  to  attend  the 
sessions  of  the  Lords,  and  his  opinions  were  listened  to 
with  respectful  attention.  It  was  fitting  that  his  last 
speech  there  should  have  been  in  a  military  debate,  and 
that  in  urging  the  value  of  militia  organization,  he  should 
have  drawn  upon  his  experience  with  the  raw  Hanoverian 
levies  in  the  Waterloo  campaign.  This  was  in  the  summer 
of  1852.  On  the  evening  of  the  I3th  of  the  following 
September  he  retired  in  his  usual  condition  of  health. 
The  next  morning  he  was  seized  with  sudden  illness  and 
did  not  live  the  day  out. 

Enough  has  been  said  in  this  brief  sketch  of  his  public 
career  to  show  that  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  though 
among  the  greatest  of  English  soldiers,  cannot  rank 
high  among  English  statesmen,  although  he  served  his 
country  in  the  highest  offices.  If  read  in  detail  the  record 
of  his  career  in  the  Cabinet  and  in  the  House  of  Lords 


48  Ten  Englishmen 

would  confirm  the  reader  in  the  opinion  that  his  only  sure 
title  to  greatness  rests  in  his  military  career.  It  has  often 
been  said  that,  had  he  died  in  the  moment  of  victory  as 
did  Nelson,  it  would  have  been  happier  for  his  fame.  But 
it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  the  years  of  his  political 
action  were  those  in  which  England  was  passing  through 
the  stages  of  a  social  and  political  revolution,  in  which 
the  democracy  was  rising  to  power  and  the  landed  aristoc- 
racy was  losing  prestige  and  privilege.  That  this  revolu- 
tion was  accomplished  without  such  a  convulsion  as 
marked  this  struggle  in  other  European  kingdoms  may 
have  been  due,  in  some  degree  at  least,  to  the  fact  that  the 
leader  of  the  aristocratic  party  was  held  in  honor  by  the 
masses  of  the  nation.  Moments  of  exasperation  there 
were  when  the  bitterness  of  popular  feeling  against  the 
obstructionists  in  the  House  of  Lords  vented  itself  upon 
the  Duke,  but  the  prevailing  feeling  toward  him  was  one 
of  pride  in  his  military  achievements  and  confidence  in  his 
honesty.  As  McCarthy  has  well  said,  "His  victories 
belonged  to  the  past.  They  were  but  tradition,  even  to 
middle-aged  persons  in  the  Duke's  later  years.  But  he 
was  regarded  still  as  the  embodiment  of  the  national  hero- 
ism and  success — a  modern  St.  George  in  a  tightly  but- 
toned frock  coat  and  white  trousers!" 


Wellington,  and  Struggle  with  Napoleon      49 


QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW 

1.  What  share  had  England  taken  in  the  French  struggle 
previous  to  1802? 

2.  What  did  the  Peace  of  Amiens  prove  to  be? 

3.  In  what  ways  and  with  what  success  did    England 
struggle  against  Napoleon  up  to  the  Peninsular  War? 

4.  Describe  the  early  life  of  Wellesley. 

5.  What  military  experience  did  he  gain  in  India? 

6.  What    policy    did    Napoleon    pursue    in    Spain    and 
Portugal? 

7.  What  qualities  fitted  Wellesley  to  command  the  Penin- 
sular Campaign? 

8.  Describe  Wellington's  campaigns  up  to  1813? 

9.  How  was  the  Peninsular  War  finally  closed? 

10.  Describe  the  struggle  at  Waterloo. 

11.  What  important  acts  relative  to  church  questions  were 
enacted  under  Wellington's  ministry? 

12.  What  was  his  attitude  toward  the  Reform  Bill? 

13.  What   curious   instance  of  "one-man   power"   did  he 
illustrate  in  1834? 

14.  How  was  his  character  shown  in  his  position  regarding 
the  Corn  Laws? 

15.  How  does  he  rank  among  great  English  leaders? 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Life  of  Wellington.     By  W.  Herbert  Maxwell. 

History  of  the  Peninsular  War.  By  Sir  William  F.  P. 
Napier. 

Selected  Despatches  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington.  Edited  by 
S.  J.  Owen. 

The  Campaign  of  Waterloo.     By  John  C.  Ropes. 

The  best  recent  "  Life  of  Wellington  "  is  by  Sir  Herbert 
Maxwell.  2  vols.  London.  The  great  "  History  of  the  Penin- 
sular War"  is  by  Sir  Wm.  Napier. 


Ill 

GEORGE  CANNING  AND  EUROPEAN  AFFAIRS 

[GEORGE  CANNING,  born,  London,  April  11,1770;  died,  London, 
AugustS,  1827;  educated  at  Eton  and  Oxford;  Member  of 
Parliament,  1793;  1797,  editor  of  Anti-Jacobin  periodical; 
1807-09,  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs;  1809,  duel  with  Castle- 
reagh;  1814-16,  Ambassador  at  Lisbon;  1817-20,  President 
of  India  Board;  1822,  appointed  Governor-General  of  India; 
1822-27,  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs;  1827,  Prime  Minister 
and  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury.  Buried  in  Westminster 
Abbey.] 

During  the  first  twenty  years  of  the  nineteenth  century 
Great  Britain,  though  possessing  the  most  liberal  consti- 
tution of  any  of  the  powers,  was  the  consistent  ally  of  the 
absolute  monarchies  of  Europe.  Strange  as  the  situation 
at  first  appears,  it  is  not  difficult  to  trace  the  causes  which 
produced  it. 

For  the  explanation  of  most  of  the  phenomena  of 
European  history  in  the  first  half  of  the  century  the  stu- 
dent must  turn  back  to  the  French  Revolution.  The 
social  and  political  ideas  which  were  at  the  bottom  of  that 
great  upheaval  were  in  part  suggested  by  the  success  of 
free  institutions  in  constitutional  England,  where  parlia- 
mentary government  had  been  highly  developed  while 
France  lay  bound  by  her  Bourbon  despots.  A  large  body 
of  Englishmen  numbering  some  of  the  greatest  names  in 
politics  and  literature  sympathized  deeply  with  the  earlier 
manifestations  of  the  revolutionary  spirit. 


George  Canning  and  European  Affairs       5 1 

"  Bliss  was  it  in  that  dawn  to  be  alive, 
But  to  be  young  was  very  heaven" 

sang  Wordsworth,  whose  youthful  enthusiasm  over  that 
dawn  was  soon  chilled  by  the  crimes  which  were  commit- 
ted in  the  name  of  Liberty — the  slaughter  of  the  royal 
pair,  the  reign  of  the  guillotine,  and  the  enthronement  of 
reason  in  the  place  of  God.  The  tide  of  opinion  in  Eng- 
land was  turned  by  these  scenes  of  lawless  license,  and 
when,  in  1793,  the  revolutionary  government  of  France 
offered  its  armed  aid  to  all  oppressed  peoples,  England, 
led  by  William  Pitt,  joined  Austria  and  Prussia  in  a  war 
to  suppress  the  dangerous  republic,  and  restore  the  Bour- 
bon dynasty  to  its  ancient  throne.  Seven  successive 
coalitions  were  thus  formed  by  English  diplomacy 
between  1793  and  1815  to  meet  the  changing  phases  of 
the  struggle  which,  after  1803,  had  ceased  to  be  monarchy 
against  democracy  and  had  become  a  universal  war  for 
self-preservation  from  Napoleon,  the  military  genius  who 
had  made  himself  the  dictator  of  revolutionary  France. 
When  the  great  war  seemed  to  have  come  to  an  end,  in 
1814-15,  and  Napoleon  was  finally  caged  at  St.  Helena, 
England  found  herself  naturally  taking  a  principal  part  in 
re-establishing  the  Bourbon  Louis  XVIII.  on  the  throne 
of  France.  She  had  stood  with  the  other  powers  so  long 
against  a  common  foe  that  she  continued  to  stand  with 
them  now  in  undoing,  as  far  as  might  be,  the  work  which 
the  disturbing  and  renovating  conqueror  had  wrought  in 
the  kingdoms  which  he  had  overrun.  Not  only  were  the 
old  boundaries  generally  restored  and  the  exiled  monarchs 
brought  back  to  replace  the  upstart  Bonaparte  kings,  but 
the  constitutional  freedom  which  the  French  arms  had 
introduced  in  many  parts  of  Europe  was  annulled  wherever 


52  Ten  Englishmen 

possible.  The  Congress  of  Vienna,  in  which  the  allied 
powers  formulated  their  policy,  did  its  best  to  turn  back 
the  shadow  twenty  years  on  the  dial  of  progress,  and 
England  either  joined  in  the  effort  or  stood  by  consenting 
to  the  death  of  so  many  newly  won  liberties. 

When  the  allied  sovereigns  were  met  in  Napoleon's 
capital  after  Waterloo,  the  Czar  of  Russia  conceived  a 
thought  which  seemed  to  him  to  be  an  inspiration.  In 
the  ecstasy  of  the  hour  of  deliverance  from  the  sword 
which  had  been  the  nightmare  of  the  continent  for  a  gener- 
ation Alexander  proposed  to  his  fellow  potentates  a 
covenant  binding  them  to  be  governed  by  the  principles  of 
Christian  justice  and  charity  in  their  dealings  with  their 
own  subjects  and  in  their  mutual  relations.  Sincere  and 
pious  as  the  Czar  undoubtedly  was,  this  agreement,  which 
was  accepted  by  the  other  monarchs,  excepting  George 
IV.  of  England,  did  not  produce  the  results  which  one 
might  suppose  from  its  name,  the  Holy  Alliance.  It  was 
used  not  only  to  stifle  the  spirit  of  liberty  in  western 
Europe,  but  its  baleful  influence  was  felt  in  Italy,  Spain, 
and  Greece.  In  effect  it  was  a  trades-union  in  which  the 
allied  crowned-heads  undertook  to  stifle  popular  liberty 
wherever  it  showed  signs  of  life.  When  Alexander 
explained  his  proposal  to  the  English  commissioners  at 
Paris  they  could  scarcely  keep  a  straight  face  at  its  absurd- 
ity. Yet  though  England  refused  to  become  a  member 
of  the  Holy  Alliance,  she  did  allow  herself  for  a  period  of 
several  years  to  be  ruled  by  its  decisions,  or  at  least  to 
allow  them  to  be  enforced  without  a  protest. 

Such  in  brief  was  the  chain  of  events  which  associated 
the  foreign  policy  of  England  with  that  of  the  Holy  Alli- 
ance. The  brilliant  statesman  who  broke  away  from  this 


George  Canning  and  European  Affairs       53 

foreign  policy  and  led  England  out  upon  a  line  of  inde- 
pendent action  was  George  Canning. 

The  future  Foreign  Secretary  and  Prime  Minister  was 
born  in  London,  April  II,  1770.  His  father  was  an 
Englishman  from  the  north  of  Ireland,  who  had  read  law, 
but  failed  to  get  clients,  and  had  succeeded  at  nothing,  from 
pamphleteering  to  selling  wine.  He  died  on  his  babe's 
first  birthday.  The  widow  married  an  actor  and  essayed 
a  stage  career.  What  would  have  become  of  little  George 
had  he  remained  in  his  mother's  company  is  an  inter- 
esting speculation.  An  actor  called  the  attention  of  his 
uncle,  a  London  banker,  to  the  probability  that  the  lad 
was  on  the  high  road  to  the  gallows — to  which  in  those 
days  more  than  one  road  led.  This  uncle,  Stratford  Can- 
ning, assumed  the  responsibility  of  the  child's  education, 
sent  him  to  Eton  and  later  to  Oxford.  At  the  former  he 
distinguished  himself  by  his  witty  contributions  to  "The 
Microcosm" — most  famous  of  school-boy  periodicals — and 
at  the  University  where  he  was  graduated,  B.A.,  in 
1791  he  won  some  distinction  in  literature  and  oratory, 
taking  the  University  prize  with  his  Latin  poem.  At 
Oxford  he  passed  through  the  "blissful  dawn"  of  which 
Wordsworth  sang,  and  was  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  the 
French  Revolution  of  1789  and  of  the  British  Whigs  who 
supported  it — Fox,  Sheridan,  and  their  sort.  He  came 
up  to  London  as  the  tide  was  turning,  and  his  own  opinion 
was  among  the  first  to  change.  Pitt,  the  Prime  Minister, 
had  been  apprised  of  his  talent,  sent  for  him,  and  had 
him  "chosen"  to  the  House  of  Commons,  a  simple  matter 
in  those  unregenerate  days,  when  the  Tory  chieftains  had 
their  pockets  full  of  boroughs. 

Pitt  gave  Canning  a  minor  government  office — he  was 


54  Ten  Englishmen 

not  yet  thirty  years  of  age — and  treated  him  almost  as  a 
son,  the  young  man  reciprocating  the  regard  with  a  really 
filial  devotion.  He  was  ambitious  for  advancement,  and 
discontented  with  his  slow  promotion.  In  1797,  in  com- 
pany with  other  choice  spirits,  he  began  the  publication  of 
The  Anti-Jacobin,  a  weekly  periodical  which  for  nearly 
a  year  held  up  to  merciless  ridicule  that  section  of  the 
British  public  which  still  countenanced  the  ruling  ideas 
of  the  French  Revolution.  When  the  King's  refusal 
to  yield  on  the  question  of  Catholic  emancipation 
(1801)  compelled  Pitt  to  resign,  Canning  went  out  of 
office  with  him.  Addington,  the  stupid  mediocrity  who 
succeeded  Pitt,  provoked  Canning's  pen  to  fresh  lam- 
poons, some  of  them  long  remembered  for  their  savage 
personalities. 

When  Pitt  resumed  the  premiership,  in  1804,  to  direct 
the  new  struggle  with  Napoleon,  he  again  bestowed  office 
upon  Canning,  and  when  he  died,  in  1806,  Canning 
became  the  leader  of  the  group  of  Pittites  who  endeavored 
to  perpetuate  his  ideas.  In  1807  he  entered  the  cabinet 
in  the  important  capacity  of  Foreign  Secretary. 

As  Foreign  Secretary  under  the  spiritless  premiership 
of  the  Duke  of  Portland,  Canning  was  allowed  free  hand. 
The  two  years  and  a  half  during  which  he  directed  the 
foreign  office  were  marked  by  a  succession  of  moves  which 
gave  a  new  aspect  to  the  contest  with  Napoleon. 

Canning  entered  upon  his  duties  just  as  the  Fourth 
Coalition  was  being  hammered  to  pieces,  on  the  same 
anvil  which  had  destroyed  the  others.  By  the  Treaty  of 
Tilsit  (July,  1807),  Napoleon  prepared  to  unite  the  north- 
ern nations  in  his  war  on  British  commerce.  Hearing  or 
divining  his  purpose  to  further  this  project  by  seizing  the 


George  Canning  and  European  Affairs       55 

fleet  of  Denmark,  Canning  dispatched  an  armed  force  to 
Copenhagen  with  a  demand  for  the  surrender  of  the 
Danish  ships.  The  order  was  executed,  and  the  Danish 
vessels  were  brought  back  to  England,  though  at  the  cost 
of  a  bombardment  of  the  Danish  capital.  The  French  Em- 
peror's eye  was  fastened  on  the  fleet  of  Portugal  as  another 
auxiliary,  and  when  the  Regent  refused  to  accede  to  his 
request,  Napoleon  dispatched  Marshal  Junot  to  drive  him 
from  his  kingdom  and  hold  its  ports  and  fortresses  against 
England. 

England  now  stood  almost  alone,  and  Napoleon  hoped 
to  complete  her  ruinous  isolation  by  destroying  her  trade 
with  Europe.  His  "Continental  System,"  which  was  to 
make  the  continent  commercially  independent  of  Great 
Britain,  was  foreshadowed  in  his  Berlin  Decrees.  Fresh 
decrees  were  now  met  by  fresh  Orders  in  Council,  "shut- 
ting out  from  the  continent  all  vessels  which  had  not 
touched  at  a  British  port."  It  was  Canning  whose 
genius  caught  at  the  strategic  possibilities  of  a  war  in  the 
peninsula  (Spain-Portugal)  as  a  practical  opening  on  the 
French  flank  for  a  final  blow  at  the  Napoleonic  power. 
Napoleon's  interference  in  the  government  of  Spain  by 
dethroning  its  monarchs  and  giving  the  crown  to  his 
brother  Joseph  had  exasperated  that  proud  nation  and 
provoked  the  spirited  people  to  arm  against  the  intruder. 
The  Portuguese  were  scarcely  less  bitter  against  the 
French  conqueror.  Canning  perceived  the  possibility  of 
gaining  a  foothold  in  these  kingdoms,  which  were  easily 
accessible  by  sea,  and  by  utilizing  the  spirit  and  resources 
of  the  aroused  nations  to  consolidate  a  power  there 
which  would  threaten  France  itself,  whose  borders  the 
great  soldier  had  thus  far  kept  inviolate.  How  ably  Sir 


56  Ten  Englishmen 

Arthur  Wellesley  fulfilled  Mr.  Canning's  desire  the  life  of 
Wellington  has  already  shown. 

The  Peninsular  Campaign  was  scarcely  under  way 
when  Canning  and  Castlereagh,  the  War  Secretary,  quar- 
reled and  the  former  resigned  from  the  cabinet.  Yet  from 
his  place  in  the  House  the  ex-minister  continued  manfully 
to  uphold  the  general  who  was  doing  England's  work  in 
Spain.  There  was  need  of  all  the  support  his  genius 
could  contribute  to  this  task,  for  parliament  was  slow  to 
grasp  the  deep  purpose  of  the  campaign,  was  impatient 
for  results,  and  prone  to  grumble  at  the  bill  of  expense. 
Yet  in  the  end  Canning  enjoyed  the  satisfaction  of  point- 
ing to  the  complete  verification  of  his  hopes.  He  might 
have  been  Foreign  Minister  in  the  Liverpool  ministry  at  its 
outset  (1812)  had  he  been  willing  to  acquiesce  in  the 
leadership  of  Castlereagh  in  the  House  of  Commons. 
This  would  have  given  him  the  direction  of  English  policy 
in  those  critical  years  in  which  the  Napoleonic  empire  was 
broken  up  and  European  affairs  rearranged  by  the  powers 
at  Vienna.  He  lived  to  regret  this  as  the  greatest  error 
of  his  career.  He  was  sufficiently  humbled  after  four 
years  to  join  the  government  forces  as  president  of  the 
India  board,  resigning  in  1820.  In  1821,  when  on  the 
point  of  going  out  to  India,  of  which  he  had  been  appointed 
governor-general,  his  prospects  suddenly  changed.  On 
the  death  of  his  rival,  Castlereagh,  Canning  became  For- 
eign Secretary  and  leader  of  the  Commons.  The  prize 
which  he  had  long  schemed  to  secure,  and  had  finally  given 
up,  suddenly  fell  into  his  hand.  Canning's  mind  could 
not  but  revert  to  the  lost  opportunity  of  1 8 12.  Not  in  a 
century  would  the  Foreign  Minister  again  have  a  world 
to  set  in  order.  He  wrote  to  a  friend,  "Ten  years  have 


George  Canning  and  European  Affairs       57 

made  a  world  of  difference,  and  have  made  a  very  differ- 
ent sort  of  world  to  bustle  in  than  that  which  I  should 
have  found  in  1812.  For  fame  it  is  a  squeezed  orange, 
but  for  public  good  there  is  something  to  do,  and  I  shall 
try — but  it  must  be  cautiously — to  do  it.  You  know  my 
politics  well  enough  to  know  what  I  mean  when  I  say 
that  for  'Europe'  I  shall  be  desirous  now  and  then  to 
read  'England.'  '  The  closing  sentence  was  the  keynote 
of  his  policy.  For  years  it  had  been  customary  for  repre- 
sentatives of  the  powers  to  treat  all  important  matters  as 
"European  questions,"  and  England  had  become  habitu- 
ated to  a  diplomacy  which  kept  English  interests  in  the 
background  for  the  sake  of  the  commonweal  of  Europe — 
Europe  and  the  Holy  Alliance  being  synonymous.  "When 
Castlereagh, "  said  Canning,  "got  among  princes  and 
sovereigns  at  Vienna,  he  thought  he  could  not  be  too  fine 
and  complaisant." 

When  Canning  began  to  represent  England  in  her  rela- 
tions with  foreign  countries,  he  found  the  Holy  Alliance 
in  full  vigor.  In  fact,  the  Czar,  Kaiser,  and  King  had  just 
met  at  Laybach  (1821)  and  issued  a  manifesto  declaring 
that  "useful  and  necessary  changes  in  legislation  and  in 
the  administration  of  states  could  only  emanate  from  the 
free  will  and  from  the  intelligent  and  well-weighed  con- 
victions of  those  whom  God  has  made  responsible  for 
power.  Penetrated  with  this  eternal  truth,  the  sovereigns 
have  not  hesitated  to  proclaim  it  with  frankness  and  vigor. 
They  have  declared  that,  in  respecting  the  rights  and  inde- 
pendence of  legitimate  power,  they  regarded  as  legally  null 
and  disavowed  by  the  principles  which  constituted  the 
public  right  of  Europe,  all  pretended  reforms  operated  by 
revolt  and  open  hostilities."  In  plain  terms  the  three 


58  Ten  Englishmen 

monarchs,  claiming  to  rule  by  divine  right,  reasserted 
their  determination  to  interfere  in  the  private  affairs  of  any 
state  to  suppress  movements  which  seemed  to  their  majes- 
ties to  be  revolutionary.  The  powers  had  already  acted 
according  to  this  program  in  Piedmont  and  Naples,  and 
were  preparing  to  interfere  in  behalf  of  the  Bourbons  in 
Spain,  the  Spaniards  in  the  revolted  American  republics, 
and  the  Turks  in  Greece  when  Canning  came  to  power. 
To  the  Congress  of  Verona,  where  these  and  other  ques- 
tions were  to  be  considered  by  the  powers,  Canning  sent 
Wellington  to  speak  for  England.  In  accordance  with  his 
instructions  the  duke  stood  for  non-intervention.  Europe 
had  no  business  to  restore  the  Bourbon  to  the  throne  from 
which  the  nation  had  thrust  him;  on  the  same  principle 
Greece  must  be  allowed  to  fight  out  her  own  cause  with 
the  Turk;  as  for  the  Spanish-American  colonies,  why  they 
were  already  lost  to  Spain,  and  England  had  recognized 
them  as  independent  states.  France  undertook  to  do 
alone  for  the  Spanish  monarch  what  the  Holy  Alliance 
wished  to  do  in  the  name  of  Europe.  In  this  England 
acquiesced,  but  Russia's  attempt  to  second  the  French  in 
their  Spanish  project  by  military  support  was  stopped  by 
Canning's  threat  that  such  an  act  would  only  result  in 
England's  making  the  Spanish  cause  her  own.  "The 
admission  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Holy  Alliance  over 
Europe  was  a  course  which  he  deemed  it  vital  at  almost 
any  cost  to  prevent,"  says  Hill.  "The  time  for  Are- 
opagus and  the  like  of  that,"  as  Canning  put  it,  "has  gone 
by."  And  again,  "What  should  we  have  thought  of  inter- 
ference from  foreign  Europe  when  King  John  granted 
Magna  Charta,  or  of  an  interposition  in  the  quarrel  between 
Charles  I.  and  his  Parliament?"  To  bring  his  colleagues 


George  Canning  and  European  Affairs       59 

around  to  his  view,  Canning  showed  them  that  the  inter- 
ference of  the  Holy  Alliance  in  the  affairs  of  Ireland 
might  be  justified  upon  the  same  grounds  on  which  the 
argument  for  intervention  in  Spain  was  based.  The  King, 
never  too  fond  of  the  brilliant  commoner,  whose  presence 
in  the  ministry  he  considered  scarcely  less  than  a  personal 
affront,  had  the  temerity  to  criticise  the  policy  which  was 
so  obnoxious  to  his  fellow  crowned  heads.  He  thought 
that  the  English  recognition  of  Spanish-American  inde- 
pendence was  as  wicked  as  the  French  alliance  in  1778 
with  the  insurgent  English  colonists  under  Washington. 
Canning's  recognition  of  Spanish-American  independence 
was  a  sagacious  stroke.  It  not  only  gave  strength  to  his 
contention  that  peoples  had  a  right  to  decide  for  them- 
selves who  should  rule  them,  without  consulting  the 
despots  of  Europe,  but  its  timeliness  was  masterly. 
Glorifying  his  own  course  in  one  of  his  most  famous 
Parliamentary  orations,  in  December,  1826,  he  explained 
why  he  had  not  joined  the  Spaniards  in  making  armed 
resistance  to  the  French  invasion.  He  said:  "Is  the 
Spain  of  the  present  day,  the  Spain  of  which  the  states- 
men of  the  time  and  William  and  Anne  were  so  much 
afraid?  Is  it,  indeed,  the  nation  whose  puissance  was 
expected  to  shake  England  from  her  sphere?  No,  sir,  it 
was  quite  another  Spain — it  was  the  Spain  within  the 
limits  of  whose  empire  the  sun  never  set;  it  was  Spain 
with  the  Indies  which  excited  the  jealousies  and  alarmed 
the  imaginations  of  our  ancestors If  France  con- 
quered Spain,  was  it  necessary  in  order  to  avoid  the  con- 
sequences of  that  occupation  that  we  should  blockade 
Cadiz?  No,  I  looked  another  way:  I  sought  the  material 
of  compensation  in  another  hemisphere.  Contemplating 


60  Ten  Englishmen 

Spain  such  as  our  ancestors  had  known  her,  I  resolved 
that,  if  France  had  Spain,  it  should  not  be  Spain  with  the 
Indies.  I  called  the  New  World  into  existence  to  redress 
the  balance  of  the  Old!" 

Greece  began  her  struggle  for  independence  in  1821. 
The  heroism  which  her  people  displayed  in  their  unequal 
battle  with  the  Turks  attracted  the  attention  and  sympathy 
of  many  persons  all  over  the  world,  especially  those  who 
saw  in  the  modern  Greek  the  representative  of  the  race 
which  had  once  been  the  intellectual  leader  of  Europe. 
The  powers  of  the  Holy  Alliance,  however,  were  inclined 
to  regard  the  outbreak  with  coldness,  seeing  in  it  a  fresh 
manifestation  of  the  then  growing  disposition  of  .European 
peoples  to  rise  against  the  tyranny  of  their  anoimed  kings. 
England  held  aloof  from  their  conferences  in  regard  to  the 
matter,  trusting  to  their  discordant  interests  to  break  up 
their  concert  of  action,  since  the  Russian  czar,  as  the  head 
of  the  Greek  faith,  might  be  counted  upon  in  the  long  run 
to  befriend  the  Greeks,  especially  as  such  a  step  would 
carry  the  Russian  influence  into  the  Balkan  Peninsula  and 
mark  a  full  stride  toward  Constantinople,  then  as  now  the 
goal  of  Russian  ambition.  Canning  employed  Wellington 
to  negotiate  an  agreement  at  St.  Petersburg  for  the  rescue 
of  Greece.  Ultimately  England,  Russia,  and  France 
signed  a  protocol  which  was  to  establish  Greece  as  a  self- 
governing  state,  tributary  to  the  Porte,  but  free  in  matters 
of  commerce  and  religion.  In  1827  the  three  powers 
demanded  an  armistice  looking  toward  a  treaty  settlement, 
and  threatened  to  use  force  to  compel  a  cessation  of  hos- 
tilities. The  Porte  defied  the  powers,  and  his  fleet  having 
fired  upon  the  allied  vessels,  the  battle  of  Navarino  was 
precipitated  in  October,  1827.  The  result  was  the  expul- 


George  Canning  and  European  Affairs       6 1 

sion  of  the  Turks  from  the  country,  and  the  early  estab- 
lishment of  the  complete  independence  of  the  kingdom  of 
Greece.  Canning  did  not  live  to  see  the  consummation 
of  his  hopes  in  Greece.  His  health,  which  had  for  several 
years  been  much  enfeebled,  gave  way  completely,  and  on 
August  8,  1827,  he  died,  at  the  age  of  fifty-seven.  He 
had  then  for  six  months  held  the  highest  office  in  the  gift 
of  the  nation. 

In  February,  1827,  the  illness  of  Lord  Liverpool  had 
made  it  necessary  to  reorganize  the  cabinet  and  choose  a 
new  Prime  Minister.  After  much  hesitation  the  King  sent 
for  Canning.  Most  of  his  former  colleagues  declined  to 
serve  under  him  because  he  was  a  professed  pro-Catholic, 
and  they  were  still  of  the  opinion  that  the  Protestant  con- 
stitution of  England  would  be  endangered  if  the  Irish 
demand  for  Roman  Catholic  emancipation  should  be 
granted.  Others  were  found  to  take  the  place  of  Welling- 
ton, Peel,  Eldon,  and  the  other  Tory  leaders,  and  the 
Canning  ministry  got  under  way,  only  to  be  abruptly  halted 
at  the  grave.  The  remains  of  the  Prime  Minister  were 
deposited  in  Westminster  Abbey,  where  a  statue  by 
Chantry  recalls  his  manly  form  and  expressive  counte- 
nance. 

Even  in  so  slight  a  sketch  as  the  foregoing,  some  char- 
acteristics of  the  man  stand  forth.  Canning's  wit,  while 
its  mordancy  cost  him  many  friends,  distinguishes  him 
among  English  statesmen.  The  talent  which  had  stood 
him  in  good  stead  as  boy-editor  of  "The  Microcosm"  at 
Eton,  and  which  is  to  be  seen  in  the  slings  and  arrows 
of  "The  Anti-Jacobin,"  he  never  quite  lost.  His  pen  was 
always  ready  to  dash  off  a  scrap  of  lampooning  verse,  and 
flashes  of  wit  and  extended  passages  of  humor  enlivened 


62  Ten  Englishmen 

the  brilliant  orations  by  means  of  which  he  explained  and 
defended  his  policies  in  Parliament.  As  an  orator  his 
speeches  were  of  exquisite  polish,  and  the  voice,  gesture, 
countenance  and  entire  bodily  presence  of  the  speaker  con- 
tributed to  their  tremendous  effect.  There  were  not 
wanting  those  who  criticised  his  oratory  as  savoring  more 
of  the  stage  than  the  rostrum,  but  such  persons  were 
aristocratic  political  opponents  who  would  not  let  the  world 
forget  that  this  man  whose  genius  outshone  them  all  was 
the  son  of  a  third-rate  actress.  Be  it  said  to  Canning's 
credit  that  he  did  not  forget  his  mother,  but  made  her  com- 
fort in  her  declining  days  the  object  of  his  solicitous  care. 
Mr.  Hill,  whose  study  of  Canning  has  been  of  great 
assistance  in  the  preparation  of  these  pages,  thus  goes  to 
the  heart  of  his  foreign  policy:  "The  principle  which 
made  Canning  the  antagonist  of  the  propaganda  of  French 
principles  in  Europe  during  the  early  part  of  his  political 
life  made  him  during  his  later  years  in  an  equal  degree  the 
antagonist  of  the  principles  of  the  Holy  Alliance  which  it 
is  his  great  glory  as  a  statesman  to  have  defeated.  The 
Holy  Alliance  endeavored  to  impose  upon  other  nations 
principles  and  a  law  of  life  not  their  own.  As  Canning 
objected  to  the  Holy  Alliance,  so  he  would  have  objected 
to  its  present  secular  substitute,  the  Concert  of  Europe, 
which  simply  means  the  agreement  of  the  great  powers  to 
inflict  their  will  upon  the  small  ones,  not  allowing  them 
to  develop  according  to  their  native  forces  and  genius,  but 
constraining  them  to  such  forms  and  confining  them 
within  such  limits  as  suits  the  convenience  of  a  despotic 
hexarchy  of  states,  or  of  a  majority  of  them.  The  coun- 
try which  is  England  at  home  should  be  England  abroad, 
reserving  all  its  freedom  of  action.  Canning's  foreign 


George  Canning  and  European  Affairs       63 

policy,  which  was  for  'Europe'  to  read  'England,'  and  to 
'get  rid  of  Areopagus  and  all  that,'  was  sound  and  states- 
manlike and  abundantly  justified  by  its  results." 


QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW 

1.  How  did  England  join  with  the  rest  of  Europe  in  undo- 
ing the  work  of  Napoleon  ? 

2.  Give  the  chief  events  in  the  early  life  of  Canning. 

3.  Why  did  Canning  authorize  an  attack  on  Denmark  ? 

4.  What  was  his  relation  to  the  Peninsular  War  ? 

5.  What  was  his  "  lost  opportunity  "  of  1812  ? 

6.  How  did  he  set  forth  his  plans  when  he  became  foreign 
secretary  in  1821  ? 

7.  What  interference  in  the  affairs  of  Europe  did  the  Holy 
Alliance  attempt  ? 

8.  How  did  Canning  defend  his  recognition  of  Spanish- 
American  independence  ? 

9.  What  part  did  England  play  in  the  liberation  of  Greece  ? 
10.  What  were  the  personal  qualities  of  Canning  ? 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

George  Canning.    Frank  H.  Hill. 

Poetry  of  the  Anti-Jacobin.     Edited  by  Charles  Edmonds. 


IV 

STEPHENSON  AND  THE  RAILWAY 

[GEORGE  STEPHENSON,  born,  Wylam,  near  Newcastle,  June  9, 
1781;  died,  August  12,  1848;  driver  lad  in  a  colliery;  at  four- 
teen, assistant  to  his  father  as  fireman  of  colliery  engines; 
at  seventeen,  engineman;  at  eighteen,  learned  to  read  in 
night  school;  1812,  enginewright  at  Killingworth  colliery; 
1814,  operated  his  locomotive,  "My  Lord";  1822,  engineer  of 
Stockton  and  Darlington  Railroad  (opened  1825);  engineer 
of  Liverpool  and  Manchester  Railroad  (opened  1830);  pro- 
duced locomotive  "Rocket,"  capable  of  thirty  miles  an 
hour.] 

In  a  bare  room  of  a  laborer's  tenement  in  the  colliery 
village  of  Wylam,  in  Northumberland,  on  the  9th  day  of 
June,  1781,  was  born  a  babe  to  whose  mind  and  hand 
England  was  to  owe  as  much  in  future  years  as  to  any 
high-born  minister  of  the  crown.  Indeed,  one  might  trust 
the  world  to  give  a  verdict  in  favor  of  George  Stephen- 
son,  the  founder  of  the  steam  railway  as  against  his 
sovereign,  King  George  III.  himself. 

The  father,  the  "old  Rob"  of  the  village  boys,  was  the 
fireman  of  the  pumping  engine  at  the  colliery  hard  by. 
His  father  before  him — the  Stephensons  were  no  pedigree- 
hunters,  and  traced  their  line  no  farther — was  a  Scotchman 
who,  so  far  as  anything  was  remembered  of  him,  had  come 
into  the  north  of  England  as  a  gentleman's  servant 
Robert  was  a  favorite  with  the  village  children,  to  whom 
he  gave  the  freedom  of  the  fire-room,  and  was  a  boon 
companion  of  his  own  houseful  of  boys  and  girls,  kindling 

64 


Stephenson  and  the  Railway  65 

their  fancy  by  his  headful  of  tales,  and  sharpening  their 
observation  of  the  beauties  of  nature  by  making  them  the 
companions  of  his  walks  a-field,  where  the  birds  and  other 
living  things  were  the  objects  of  his  peculiar  interest  and 
love. 

As  soon  as  little  George  was  old  enough  to  "take 
notice"  he  must  have  discovered  the  railway  which  ran 
before  his  father's  door,  and  his  earliest  responsibilities 
were  connected  with  the  oversight  of  his  younger  brothers 
and  sisters  lest  in  their  play  they  should  fall  under  the 
wheels  of  the  cars  or  the  hoofs  of  the  horses  that  supplied 
the  motive  power.  The  road  was  a  wooden  tramway 
along  which  coal  cars  were  dragged  from  the  mines  to 
tidewater. 

The  first  tramways  in  the  northern  coal-fields  were 
made  by  laying  a  track  of  planking  on  wooden  sleepers. 
This  device  was  more  than  a  century  old  when  George 
Stephenson  was  born.  In  some  places  this  had  been 
improved  by  plating  the  planks  with  iron.  While  the 
Wylam  lad  was  still  a  barefoot  boy,  cast-iron  rails  were 
being  introduced  in  Leicestershire,  a  wheel  having  been 
designed  with  a  flange  to  keep  it  on  the  narrow  track. 
Thus  the  railway  was  brought  to  a  stage  which  needed 
only  the  application  of  steam  to  its  motive  power  to  carry 
it  into  a  new  and  vastly  enlarged  phase. 

The  fireman's  son  was  set  to  win  his  share  of  the 
family  bread  before  he  was  ten.  He  tended  a  widow's 
cows,  led  the  plow-horses,  and  hoed  turnips  before  he 
entered  a  colliery  as  a  breaker-boy,  where  his  task  was  to 
pick  out  stones  and  other  foreign  substances  from  the 
fuel.  Sixpence  a  day  was  the  wage.  Soon  at  twopence 
more  he  was  promoted  to  drive  the  gin-horse  that,  circling 


66  Ten  Englishmen 

around  a  capstan,  hoisted  the  buckets  of  water  and  coals 
out  of  the  pit.  At  fourteen  he  became  his  father's  assist- 
ant in  the  fire-room  at  Dewley  Burn  at  a  shilling  a  day. 
At  fifteen  he  obtained  a  foreman's  position  in  another 
colliery.  At  seventeen  he  had  gone  over  his  father's 
head,  and  had  charge  of  a  pumping  engine  at  Water-row 
Pit.  When  his  wages  reached  twelve  shillings  a  week  he 
thought  he  was  "a  made  man  for  life,"  but  his  ignoble 
content  was  soon  disturbed.  Always  fascinated  by 
machinery,  as  he  was  by  birds  and  animals,  he  made  a 
pet  of  his  engines,  studying  them  with  a  singular  fondness, 
and  making  himself  master  of  their  principles  and  their 
parts.  This  knowledge  prompted  him  to  learn  more, 
especially  to  find  out  something  about  the  improved 
engines  of  Boulton  &  Watt,  of  which  rumors  had  reached 
the  enginemen  of  the  north.  To  do  this  he  must  learn  to 
read,  an  art  which  he  seems  to  have  considered  superflu- 
ous until  he  was  eighteen.  Never  did  student  work  harder 
than  Geordie  Stephenson  at  his  new  task,  amazing  his 
teachers  and  his  mates  by  his  progress  at  "the  three  R's." 
He  was  now  brakesman  of  a  hoisting  engine,  dividing  his 
small  leisure  between  his  studies  and  his  cobblery,  for  he 
added  to  his  earnings  by  mending  shoes.  His  income  was 
now  some  ninety  pounds  a  year.  He  saved  his  first 
guinea  and  felt  himself  a  rich  man.  At  twenty-one  he 
married  a  farmer's  house-servant  and  went  to  housekeep- 
ing in  a  cottage  at  Wellington  Quay. 

It  would  be  a  long  story,  however  interesting,  to  follow 
the  young  mechanic  through  the  experiences  by  which  he 
won  a  name  in  all  the  North  Country  as  the  cleverest  of 
"engine  doctors,"  eking  out  his  wages  by  making  lasts, 
mending  watches,  and  even  cutting  out  coats  and  trousers 


Stephenson  and  the  Railway  67 

for  the  wives  of  the  pitmen  to  sew  up  for  their  husbands. 
His  desire  to  provide  his  motherless  boy  Robert  with 
better  schooling  than  he  had  enjoyed  sharpened  his  wits 
and  added  strength  to  his  arm.  Fortunately  the  son 
proved  to  be  not  only  an  apt  scholar,  but  had  the  rare  gift 
of  being  able  to  teach  others.  Whatever  he  learned  in 
the  good  schools  to  which  his  father  sent  him,  he  imparted 
to  his  father.  So  boy  and  man  progressed  together  in 
their  educational  partnership. 

When  George  Stephenson  became  chief  enginewright 
of  the  Killingworth  collieries  at  one  hundred  pounds  a 
year  he  thought  he  had  reached  the  summit  of  his  ambi- 
tion. The  duties  of  the  position  made  less  demand  upon 
him  for  manual  labor,  and  left  him  time  to  carry  out  some 
of  his  mechanical  ideas.  He  devised  new  hoists  and 
pumps  for  the  mines,  and  then  applied  himself  to  the 
ever-present  problem  of  cheapening  the  transportation  of 
the  coals  between  pit  mouth  and  ship  side.  One  of  his  first 
improvements  of  this  sort  was  a  gravity  railway,  so 
arranged  that  the  loaded  cars,  running  down  to  the  river 
by  their  own  weight,  furnished  the  power  to  draw  the 
empty  cars  to  the  summit  again  by  cable. 

When  George  Stephenson  took  up  the  problem  of  per- 
fecting a  "traveling  steam  engine"  he  had  the  advantage 
of  knowing  what  had  been  accomplished  by  other  experi- 
menters. For  fifty  years  inventors  had  been  turning  out 
steam  engines  of  considerable  promise  in  the  model  stage, 
but  of  little  practical  performance.  Indeed,  about  1803, 
a  Cornishman  named  Trevithick  had  produced  a  loco- 
motive which  was  used  for  a  time  to  transport  metal  and 
ore  to  the  Pen-y-darran  iron  works  in  South  Wales.  The 
heavy  engine  so  damaged  the  tracks  that  it  was  soon  dis- 


68  Ten  Englishmen 

mounted  and  degraded  to  the  work  of  a  steam  pump.  In 
1812  a  cog-wheel  locomotive,  invented  by  a  Mr.  Blenkin- 
sop,  began  running  in  a  colliery  a  few  miles  out  of  Leeds, 
and  served  very  well  its  purpose  to  haul  heavy  trains 
almost  as  fast  as  a  horse  could  walk.  The  next  year  a 
Derbyshire  mechanic  produced  a  "Mechanical  Traveler," 
the  legs  of  which  were  moved  alternately  by  steam,  but 
the  bursting  of  its  boiler  on  its  trial  trip  put  an  end  to  its 
picturesque  career  of  doubtful  usefulness. 

One  Mr.  Blackett,  an  enterprising  collier  of  Wylam, 
introduced  the  ideas  of  Trevithick  and  Blenkinsop  to 
the  Tyneside  and  so  brought  them  under  the  observant 
eye  of  the  Killingworth  engine wright,  who  had  such  a 
clever  way  of  smoothing  away  difficulties  in  complicated 
machinery.  After  repeated  and  costly  experiments,  ^Mr. 
Blackett  evolved  a  type  of  locomotive  which,  though 
noisy  and  clumsy,  did  better  work  than  any  of  its  pre- 
decessors. 

After  making  a  careful  study  of  what  had  been  done 
by  others,  George  Stephenson  came  to -the  conclusion  that 
he  could  improve  upon  the  existing  locomotive  models. 
This  was  about  1813,  when  he  was  about  thirty- four  years 
old.  He  said  to  his  friends  that  "there  was  no  limit  to 
the  speed  of  such  an  engine,  if  the  works  could  be  made 
to  stand."  One  of  his  employers,  Lord  Ravensworth, 
advanced  the  necessary  money  for  constructing  his  first 
"Traveling  Engine"  at  West  Moor,  the  colliery  black- 
smith undertaking  to  carry  out  his  designs.  Dr.  Smiles's 
description  of  this  locomotive  may  be  reproduced:  "The 
boiler  was  cylindrical  of  wrought  iron,  eight  feet  in  length 
and  thirty-four  inches  in  diameter,  with  an  internal  flue 
tube  twenty  inches  wide  passing  through  it.  The  engine 


Stephenson  and  the  Railway  69 

had  two  vertical  cylinders  of  eight  inches  diameter  and 
two  feet  stroke  let  into  the  boiler,  working  the  propelling 
gear  with  cross  heads  and  connecting  rods.  The  power 
of  the  two  cylinders  was  combined  by  means  of  spur-wheels 
which  communicated  the  motive  power  to  the  wheels  sup- 
porting the  engine  on  the  rail The  engine  thus 

worked  upon  what  is  termed  the  second  motion.  The 
chimney  was  of  wrought  iron,  round  which  was  a  chamber 
extending  back  to  the  feed  pumps,  for  the  purpose  of 
heating  the  water  previous  to  the  injection  into  the  boiler. 
The  engine  had  no  springs,  and  was  mounted  on  a  wooden 
frame  supported  on  four  wheels."  The  engine  made  its 
trial  trip  July  25,  1814,  on  which  occasion  it  showed  a 
speed  of  four  miles  an  hour  in  drawing  a  load  of  thirty 
tons.  This  engine  was  named  "Bliicher, "  after  the  dis- 
tinguished Prussian  field-marshal. 

Bliicher  was  almost  immediately  improved  by  its  in- 
ventor. First  he  doubled  the  steam-making  power  of  its 
boiler  by  turning  the  exhaust  from  the  cylinders  into  the 
smoke-stack,  thus  creating  a  forced  draught.  Second  he 
built  another  engine,  in  which  the  tooth-wheel  driving 
gear  gave  way  to  a  simple  and  direct  connection  between 
the  piston  and  the  driving  wheels  which  rolled  upon  the 
rails.  This  type  of  locomotive,  developing  some  six  miles 
an  hour,  did  its  work  so  well  in  the  colliery  that  it  was 
retained,  with  very  slight  alterations,  for  more  than  half  a 
century.  The  report  of  its  success  got  abroad  slowly, 
and  Mr.  Stephenson  was  commissioned  to  build  a  railway 
and  a  number  of  locomotives  for  a  colliery  in  another 
shire.  The  success  of  this  piece  of  engineering  encour- 
aged him  in  sending  his  son  Robert,  a  youth  of  fine 
promise,  to  Edinburgh  to  study  physical  sciences  in  the 


70  Ten  Englishmen 

university,  where  in  his  brief  residence  he  took  a  mathe- 
matical prize. 

The  year  1823  marked  another  forward  step  for  George 
Stephenson  and  railroads.  Two  years  before  a  road  had 
been  chartered  to  connect  the  Durham  coal-fields  with 
tidewater.  Stephenson  heard  of  the  project,  and  at  once 
proposed  to  the  company  to  make  an  iron  railroad  of  the 
new  wooden  tramway  and  equip  it  with  his  traveling 
engines.  His  arguments  and  demonstrations  won  over 
the  skeptical  directors.  They  had  their  charter  amended 
so  as  to  authorize  the  use  of  steam  as  motive  power  for 
the  transport  of  passengers  as  well  as  merchandise.  Thus 
began  the  Stockton  and  Darlington  Railway,  the  first  in 
the  world  with  a  passenger  charter.  The  chief  engineer 
was  George  Stephenson,  on  a  salary  of  five  hundred  pounds. 
At  the  same  time,  with  the  assistance  of  the  railroad 
people,  he  founded  the  locomotive  shops  at  Newcastle. 

The  new  railroad,  the  first  public  line,  was  opened  in 
September,  1825.  As  its  construction  progressed,  its 
engineer  had  become  increasingly  sanguine  of  success. 
He  said  to  his  son  Robert  at  this  time:  "I  venture  to  tell 
you  that  I  think  you  will  live  to  see  the  day  when  railways 
will  supersede  almost  all  other  methods  of  conveyance  in 
this  country — when  mail  coaches  will  go  by  railway,  and 
railroads  will  become  the  great  highway  for  the  King  and 
all  his  subjects.  The  time  is  coming  when  it  will  be 
cheaper  for  a  workingman  to  travel  upon  a  railway  than 
to  walk  on  foot.  I  know  there  are  great  and  almost 
unsurmountable  difficulties  to  be  encountered,  but  what  I 
have  said  will  come  to  pass  as  sure  as  you  live.  I  only 
wish  I  may  live  to  see  the  day,  though  that  I  can  scarcely 
hope  for,  as  I  know  how  slow  all  human  progress  is,  and 


Stephenson  and  the  Railway  71 

with  what  difficulty  I  have  been  able  to  get  the  locomotive 
thus  far  adopted,  notwithstanding  my  more  than  ten  years' 
successful  experiment  at  Killingworth." 

The  first  train  over  the  road  was  such  an  one  as  had 
never  been  seen  before.  George  Stephenson  was  at  the 
lever  when  the  engine  pulled  out  with  a  string  of  eight 
cars  behind  it.  One  regular  passenger  coach — the  first 
ever  built — held  the  directors,  and  twenty-one  improvised 
passenger  "wagons"  carried  some  six  hundred  daring 
individuals.  Coal  and  flour  filled  the  other  cars.  The 
journey  was  safely  accomplished  at  a  speed  which  is  said 
at  times  to  have  reached  the  hitherto  unheard  of  rate  of 
twelve  miles  an  hour.  The  road,  with  its  three  Stephen- 
son  locomotives  and  many  horses,  was  successful  from  the 
first,  and  its  dividends  were  among  the  chief  inducements 
which  led  to  the  next  and  more  important  advance  in  rail- 
road construction,  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  line. 

Manchester  was  the  great  manufacturing  center  of  the 
industrial  England,  which  the  inventions  of  Arkwright 
and  Watt  had  called  into  existence.  Its  port  was  Liver- 
pool. The  natural  means  of  communication  between  the 
two  cities  was  quite  inadequate  to  the  changed  conditions. 
In  1821  surveys  were  made  for  a  tramway,  and  before  the 
Stockton  road  was  completed  Stephenson  had  been 
selected  as  chief  engineer  of  the  new  and  more  ambitious 
enterprise.  Yet  his  assertion  that  trains  could  be  moved 
between  the  two  cities  at  twenty  miles  an  hour  raised 
serious  doubts  in  many  minds  as  to  his  sanity.  A  writer 
in  the  "Quarterly  Review"  thought  that  even  though  a 
few  foolhardy  persons  might  trust  themselves  to  a  vehicle 
moving  at  such  speed — twice  that  of  the  swiftest  stage- 
coaches— Parliament  for  the  general  welfare  should  limit 


72  Ten  Englishmen 

the  speed  of  all  railways  to  eight  or  nine  miles  an  hour, 
as  the  greatest  that  could  be  ventured  on  with  safety. 

It  was  while  the  grant  of  a  charter  to  this  Liverpool 
and  Manchester  Railway  was  being  discussed  in  a  com- 
mittee of  the  House  of  Commons  that  the  shrewd  North 
Country  engineer  first  faced  the  trained  Parliamentary 
lawyers.  He  had  been  cautioned  to  keep  his  figures  for 
speed  within  the  most  moderate  limits  so  as  not  to  preju- 
dice the  company's  case,  but  his  belief  in  his  own  inven- 
tion mastered  his  restraint,  though  as  he  afterward  said, 
he  did  his  best  "to  keep  the  engine  down  to  ten  miles  an 
hour. ' '  In  fact,  his  daring  prediction  of  twelve  miles  per 
hour  struck  the  learned  counsel  with  horror.  They 
objected  that  horses  would  fly  in  terror  from  such  a  mon- 
ster. He  replied  that  horses  had  been  known  to  shy  at 
wheelbarrows.  They  tried  to  make  him  admit  that  the 
wheels  would  slip  on  the  smooth  rails,  but  he  knew  that 
they  would  bite  without  teeth.  One  of  the  committee 
said,  "Suppose  that  a  cow  were  to  stray  upon  the  line 
and  get  in  the  way  of  the  engine;  would  not  that  be  a 
very  awkward  circumstance?"  To  which  the  countryman 
had  a  ready  reply,  "Very  awkward — for  the  cow!"  The 
opposition,  which  was  largely  animated  by  the  existing 
canal  interest,  ventured  some  views  which  the  experience 
of  the  next  five  years  was  to  make  most  ridiculous.  They 
declared  that  the  plan  to  carry  the  rails  over  the  surveyed 
route  across  Chat  Moss,  a  wide  morass,  was  impossible; 
and  furthermore,  that  no  locomotive  could  make  headway 
against  the  high  winds  which  at  times  prevailed  in  that 
region.  Experts  were  brought  to  testify  that  "no  engi- 
neer in  his  senses  would  go  through  Chat  Moss  if  he 
wanted  to  make  a  railroad  from  Liverpool  to  Manchester." 


Stephenson  and  the  Railway  73 

"In  my  judgment,"  said  one  of  them,  "a  railroad  cannot 
be  made  over  Chat  Moss  without  going  to  the  bottom." 
The  committee  decided  against  the  bill,  but  at  the  next 
session  Parliament  granted  the  company  the  power  to 
construct  the  road,  the  question  whether  or  not  locomo- 
tives should  be  used  upon  it  being  left  in  abeyance. 
George  Stephenson  was  chosen  to  be  chief  engineer,  at 
one  thousand  pounds  a  year. 

Chat  Moss  was  conquered  by  an  ingenious  device 
which  practically  floated  the  road-bed  upon  its  spongy 
surface.  Tunnels  were  driven  through  the  hills,  deep 
cuttings  were  made  wherever  needed,  a  ravine  was  crossed 
by  a  viaduct  of  brick  and  stone,  and  more  than  three- 
score bridges  were  thrown  across  the  streams.  All  the 
plans  for  this  complicated  work  passed  under  the  eye,  and 
many  of  them  took  their  first  form  in  the  mind  of  the 
chief,  whose  skill  as  a  mechanic  was  for  the  time  sunk  in 
his  genius  for  civil  engineering.  By  dint  of  the  most 
strenuous  application,  and  by  the  dominance  of  a  spirit  of 
perseverance  which  no  discouragement  or  obstacle  could 
daunt,  Stephenson  brought  the  road  to  triumphant  com- 
pletion. The  next  thing  was  to  convince  the  directors 
that  the  steam  locomotive  was  the  proper  equipment  for 
a  public  railway.  As  a  beginning,  he  persuaded  the  com- 
pany to  place  one  of  his  engines  upon  its  construction 
trains.  The  experts  who  were  employed  to  investigate  the 
many  proposed  applications  of  power  decided,  however, 
that  the  most  feasible  equipment  was  a  series  of  twenty-one 
stationary  engines  located  at  intervals  along  the  right  of 
way  and  hauling  the  cars  stage  after  stage  by  means  of  a 
rope  wound  upon  a  drum — the  principle  of  the  cable  rail- 
way which  afterwards  had  its  day  in  our  streets.  Still 


74  Ten  Englishmen 

Stephenson  would  give  the  directors  no  peace.  Finally, 
in  order  to  settle  the  question  of  the  practical  utility  of 
the  traveling  engine,  the  company  offered  a  prize  of  five 
hundred  pounds  for  the  best  locomotive  engine,  to  be 
awarded  after  a  competitive  test  upon  certain  conditions, 
the  most  notable  of  which  were : 

"2.  The  engine  of  six  tons  weight  must  be  able  to 
draw  after  it,  day  by  day,  twenty  tons  weight  at  ten  miles 
an  hour  with  a  pressure  of  steam  on  the  boiler  not  exceed- 
ing fifty  pounds  to  the  square  inch." 

"4.  The  engine  and  boiler  must  be  supported  on 
springs  and  rest  on  six  wheels,  the  height  of  the  whole 
not  exceeding  fifteen  feet  to  the  top  of  the  chimney. ' ' 

"7.  The  engine  must  be  delivered  complete  and  ready 
for  trial  at  the  Liverpool  end  of  the  railway  not  later  than 
the  1st  of  October,  1829." 

"8.  The  price  of  the  engine  must  not  exceed  five  hun- 
dred and  fifty  pounds." 

George  Stephenson  and  his  son  Robert  threw  all  their 
resources  into  the  production  of  the  locomotive  which  was 
to  carry  their  colors  in  the  contest.  The  "Rocket" 
engine,  which  was  built  in  their  Newcastle  shop,  was 
fitted  with  a  tubular  boiler  six  feet  long  and  three  feet 
four  inches  in  diameter.  The  fire-box  was  two  feet  wide 
and  three  feet  high.  On  each  side  of  the  boiler  at  its  rear 
end  was  an  oblique  cylinder,  the  piston-rods  being  con- 
nected with  the  outside  of  the  two  driving  wheels,  which 
were  in  front.  The  two  rear  wheels  were  about  one-half 
the  diameter  of  the  drivers.  The  tender,  also  four- 
wheeled,  was  a  simple  affair,  the  water  being  carried  in  a 
large  cask. 

After  a  successful  trial    trip,    the   "Rocket,"   which 


Stephenson  and  the  Railway  75 

weighed  but  four  and  a  half  tons,  was  sent  by  wagon 
across  England  to  Carlisle,  and  thence  to  Liverpool.  It 
was  one  of  four  steam  engines  entered  in  the  competition 
which  attracted  wide  attention.  Among  the  entries  was 
the  "Novelty,"  the  production  of  that  talented  Swede, 
John  Ericsson,  who  afterwards,  in  America,  built  the 
iron-clad  "Monitor."  The  "Novelty"  showed  fine 
bursts  of  speed,  but  failed  in  point  of  endurance.  The 
"Perseverance'-'  and  "Sanspareil"  developed  radical 
defects,  but  the  "Rocket,"  driven  by  George  Stephen- 
son's  own  hand  was  prepared  for  every  turn  of  the  compe- 
tition, and  surpassed  all  in  power,  speed,  and  general 
serviceability.  To  its  makers  the  prize  was  unhesitatingly 
awarded,  whereupon  the  hardy  engineer  amazed  every 
beholder  by  letting  out  the  last  link  and  dashing  past  the 
grandstand  at  the  rate  of  more  than  thirty  miles  an  hour. 
The  forced  draft,  which  had  made  the  Killingworth  freight 
engines  so  successful,  coupled  with  the  tubular  boiler, 
formed  a  combination  which  won  the  battle  for  the  loco- 
motive once  for  all,  and  made  the  name  of  George 
Stephenson  a  household  word. 

A  year  later,  on  the  I5th  of  September,  1830,  the 
Manchester  and  Liverpool  Railway  was  formally  opened. 
The  Duke  of  Wellington — the  first  citizen  of  the  realm — 
was  present  with  Sir  Robert  Peel  and  other  distinguished 
personages,  together  with  a  vast  throng  of  sightseers, 
enthusiastic  spectators  of  the  consummation  of  George 
Stephenson 's  dreams.  Though  marred  by  a  fatal  acci- 
dent, the  occasion  proved  the  entire  practicability  of  the 
railway  as  a  means  of  transportation.  The  multitudes 
who  rode  in  its  cars  on  that  memorable  day  were  but  a 
foretaste  of  the  patronage  which  the  line  was  to  receive. 


j6  Ten  Englishmen 

Although  the  intention  of  its  projectors  was  to  limit  its 
traffic  chiefly  to  freight,  the  road  from  the  first  found  its 
offices  besieged  by  persons  eager  to  ride.  Thus  passen- 
ger traffic  became  established  as  its  leading  source  of 
revenue,  and  thus  were  the  capitalists  encouraged  to 
prosecute  the  extension  of  the  railway  system  to  points 
where  the  outlook  for  freight  business  was  much  less  than 
between  Liverpool  and  Manchester.  Though  these  roads 
were  fiercely  opposed  by  the  landowners,  the  canal-men, 
and  turnpike  proprietors,  they  were  pressed  forward  in 
every  direction.  Robert  Stephenson  shared  with  his 
father  the  responsibility  of  engineering  some  of  the  prin- 
cipal lines,  though  the  two  men  had  the  grim  satisfaction 
of  seeing  the  experts  who  had  ridiculed  the  initial  project 
now  eagerly  bidding  for  the  ppportunity  of  conducting 
surveys  for  the  new  lines. 

A  mania  for  building  railroads  seized  the  world.  The 
Stephensons  were  in  demand  not  only  throughout  Great 
Britain,  but  even  on  the  Continent.  They  had  already 
made  a  market  for  their  engines  abroad,  when,  in  1835, 
they  were  summoned  by  the  King  of  Belgium  to  assist  in 
laying  out  a  system  of  railways  for  that  kingdom.  For 
his  services  here  the  engineer  was  knighted  by  the  King 
and  banqueted  at  the  royal  table.  Honored  at  home  and 
abroad;  happy  in  the  general  adoption  of  the  ideas  to 
which  he  had  clung  through  opposition  and  adversity; 
proud  of  the  son  Robert,  for  whose  education  he  had 
worked  like  a  slave,  and  whom  he  now  saw  hailed  as  one 
of  the  great  engineers  of  the  world;  fortunate  in  business; 
respected  and  beloved  by  men  of  every  class,  George 
Stephenson  spent  the  closing  years  of  his  life  in  affluence 
and  ease.  He  had  earned  his  peace,  for  he  had  fought 


Stephenson  and  the  Railway  77 

and  won  the  battle  of  the  locomotive,  and  so,  by  improv- 
ing the  means  of  communication,  had  advanced  the  inter- 
ests of  trade,  and  promoted  the  welfare  of  England  and  of 
mankind.  George  Stephenson  died  in  1848.  His  son 
Robert  outlived  him  but  eleven  years,  and  was  buried  in 
Westminster  Abbey  as  one  of  the  great  men  of  the  cen- 
tury. The  boldness  of  his  engineering  projects,  the  skill 
and  daring  with  which  he  flung  his  railway  bridges  and 
viaducts  across  rivers,  valleys,  and  straits,  had  caught  and 
held  the  imagination  of  the  world.  Together  the  two  men 
wrote  the  name  of  Stephenson  large  and  lasting  in  the 
record  of  nineteenth-century  England. 

Had  the  nineteenth  century  nothing  else  to  show  save 
the  improvement  in  transportation,  its  fame  would  be 
secure.  Within  a  dozen  years  after  the  opening  of  the 
Liverpool  and  Manchester  Railway,  Great  Britain  was 
covered  with  railways  or  railway  surveys,  establishing  all 
the  trunk-lines  which  now  exist.  The  thirty  and  a  half 
miles  of  the  original  line  grew  by  leaps  and  bounds  to  a 
system  of  nearly  two  thousand  miles,  the  property  of  a 
single  company,  whose  property  is  valued  at  five  hundred 
million  dollars.  Twenty-five  years  after  the  day  of  the 
"Rocket's"  victory  eight  thousand  miles  of  railway  were 
in  operation  in  the  United  Kingdom.  Another  twenty- 
five  years  brought  the  total  up  to  eighteen  thousand  miles, 
which  had  cost  for  construction  nearly  four  billion  dollars. 
At  the  same  time  (1883)  the  number  of  locomotives  was 
14,469,  of  cars,  490,661.  Before  Manchester  and  Liver- 
pool were  connected  by  railway  thirty  stage-coaches 
sufficed  for  the  passenger  traffic.  The  railway  carried 
seven  hundred  thousand  passengers  between  the  two  cities 
in  its  first  year  and  one-half.  Fifty  years  later  the  passen- 


7 8  Ten  Englishmen 

gers  on  all  the  English  lines  numbered  six  hundred  mil- 
lion, of  whom  eighty-five  per  cent  traveled  third-class. 
The  freight  traffic  in  the  same  year  was  two  hundred  and 
twenty-six  million  tons.  Robert  Stephenson  lived  to 
see  one  per  cent  of  the  entire  population  of  the  United 
Kingdom  employed  on  the  railways.  In  1884  the  number 
of  such  employees  was  367,793.  These  few  figures  are 
sufficient  to  suggest  the  magnitude  of  the  economic 
changes  which  took  place  in  England,  and  indeed  through- 
out the  civilized  world,  as  the  direct  result  of  the  talent, 
industry,  and  perseverance  of  George  Stephenson,  the 
Northumbrian  plowboy. 


QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW 

1.  Describe  the  early  life  of  George  Stephenson. 

2.  What  attempts  at  locomotives  had  been  made  prior  to 
his  time  ? 

3.  What  success  of  Stephenson's  led  to  the  Stockton-Dar- 
lington railway  ? 

4.  How  did  the  "  Quarterly "  comment  on   the  proposed 
Liverpool  line  ? 

5.  What  was  the  view  of  the  Parliamentary  committee  ? 

6.  Describe  Stephenson's  work  on  the  Liverpool  &  Man- 
chester line. 

7.  What  competitors  had  the  "  Rocket "  ? 

8.  Describe  the  later  work  of  the  two  Stephensons. 

9.  Contrast  Stephenson's  England  with  that  of  to-day. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Life  of  Stephenson.     Samuel  Smiles.     ("Lives  of  the  Engi- 
neers.") 


V 

RUSSELL  AND  PARLIAMENTARY  REFORM 

[JOHN  RUSSELL,  Earl  Russell,  born,  London,  August  18,  1792; 
died,  Pembroke  Lodge,  Richmond  Park,  May  28, 1878;  edu- 
cated at  Westminster  School  and  Edinburgh  University; 
Member  of  Parliament,  1813;  favored  Catholic  emancipation ; 
1830-34,  paymaster  general;  1831,  introduced  the  first  Re- 
form Bill;  1832, carried  the  third  Reform  Bill;  1835-39,  Home 
Secretary;  1839-41,  Colonial  Secretary;  1846-52,  Prime  Min- 
ister; 1852-53,  Foreign  Secretary;  1854-55,  President  of  the 
Council;  1855,  Colonial  Secretary;  1859-65,  Foreign  Secre- 
tary; 1865-66,  Prime  Minister.] 

The  Parliament  of  England  is  one  of  the  most  ancient 
of  political  institutions.  Constitutional  historians  find  its 
germs  in  the  council  of  the  wise  men — "The  Witenage- 
mot" — which  was  summoned  to  give  advice  to  the  early 
Anglo-Saxon  kings.  In  the  thirteenth  century  Simon  de 
Montfort  had  added  to  the  assembly  of  the  nobles  certain 
representatives  of  the  counties,  cities,  and  boroughs.  The 
monarchs  found  this  gathering  of  the  estates  of  the  nation  a 
useful  instrument  of  taxation  and  the  Parliament  in  turn  ac- 
quired certain  legislative  rights.  In  time  the  nobles  or  peers 
began  to  sit  by  themselves,  leaving  the  chosen  representa- 
tives to  meet  in  a  House  of  Commons.  The  story  of  the 
increasing  influence  of  Parliament  is  in  great  part  the  his- 
tory of  the  English  nation.  Before  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century  the  power  of  Parliament  had  become 
the  leading  force  in  the  state.  Yet  much  remained  to  be 
79 


8o  Ten  Englishmen 

done  in  the  nineteenth  century  to  bring  this  supreme 
governing  body  into  living  touch  with  the  heart  of  the 
nation. 

The  conservative  habit  of  the  English  had  left  the  con- 
stitution of  the  House  of  Commons  untouched  for  so  many 
years  that  it  had  lost  all  but  the  semblance  of  a  represen- 
tative body.  No  uniform  qualification  for  the  voter 
existed.  In  one  locality  the  franchise  was  closely 
restricted,  in  others  every  man,  however  poor,  might  exer- 
cise the  right  to  vote.  There  were  all  manner  of  varia- 
tions in  these  "fancy  franchises,  "which  had  been  conferred 
by  special  charters  at  long  separated  intervals.  Neither 
was  there  any  existing  relation  between  population  and 
representation.  Strange  as  the  statement  will  appear  to 
American  readers,  accustomed  to  the  reapportionment  of 
congressional  representation  after  every  federal  census,  it 
is  a  fact  that  there  had  been  no  radical  change  in  the 
boundaries  of  election  districts  in  England  for  centuries. 
The  population  had  meanwhile  undergone  enormous 
changes.  Not  only  had  it  increased  manifold,  but  the 
rise  of  modern  industry  had  occasioned  a  redistribution  of 
the  people.  London  had  become  a  swarming  hive. 
Liverpool  docks  and  warehouses  were  surrounded  by  a 
crowded  city.  Manchester,  Birmingham,  Leeds,  and 
other  places  scarcely  known  to  the  England  of  Tudor  and 
Stuart,  were  centers  of  busy  industrial  life,  attracting  to 
themselves  multitudes  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  country- 
side. The  counties,  large  and  small,  continued  to  have 
equal  representation  in  Parliament,  though  some  of  them 
were  many  times  more  populous  than  others.  In  the 
boroughs  the  inequalities  were  most  flagrant.  Where  a 
goodly  village  had  been  in  Tudor  times  there  might  now 


Russell  and  Parliamentary  Reform         8 1 

be  nothing  visible  but  the  crumbling  tower  of  the  parish 
church,  yet  the  place  still  retained  its  right  to  representa- 
tion in  the  House  of  Commons.  Such  decayed  or  "rot- 
ten" boroughs  existed  in  considerable  numbers.  Their 
few  voters  were  controlled  by  the  land-owning  nobility. 
McCarthy  says,  "The  case  of  Old  Sarum  is  famous.  It 
returned  members  to  Parliament  in  the  days  of  Edward 
III.,  and  from  that  period  down  to  the  time  of  the  Reform 
Bill.  But  the  town  of  Old  Sarum  gradually  disappeared. 
Owing  to  the  rise  of  New  Sarum  (Salisbury)  and  to  other 
causes  the  population  gradually  deserted  it.  The  town 
became  practically  effaced  from  existence;  its  remains  far 
less  palpable  or  visible  than  those  of  any  Baalbec  or  Pal- 
myra. Yet  it  continued  to  be  represented  in  Parliament. 
It  was  at  one  time  bought  by  Lord  Chatham's  grand- 
father, Governor  Pitt.  It  was  coolly  observed  at  the  time 
that  "Mr.  Pitt's  posterity  now  have  an  hereditary  seat  in 
the  House  of  Commons  as  owners  of  Old  Sarum,"  just 
as  any  earl  had  a  seat  in  the  House  of  Lords  by  virtue 
of  his  hereditary  peerage.  When  the  Reform  Bill  was 
passed  the  member  of  Parliament  for  the  borough  of 
Ludgershall  was  himself  the  only  voter  in  the  borough  and 
had  chosen  himself  to  Parliament  on  his  own  nomination. 
Another  place  with  two  members  had  only  seven  qualified 
voters.  McCarthy  is  quite  within  the  truth  when  he 
asserts  that  two-thirds  of  the  House  of  Commons  was 
made  up  of  the  nominees  of  the  peers  and  great  land- 
lords "who  owned  their  boroughs  and  members  just  as 
they  owned  their  parks  and  their  cattle."  Thus  the 
power  of  the  landed  aristocracy,  which  was  the  House  of 
Lords,  lacked  but  little  of  being  the  House  of  Commons 
as  well.  The  mass  of  the  nation,  which  was  now  rapidly 


82  Ten  Englishmen 

gaining  in  education  and  wealth,  had  no  way  of  making 
its  influence  felt  in  Parliament  except  by  the  power  of 
public  opinion,  to  which  the  periodical  and  pamphlet  press 
was  beginning  to  give  expression. 

The  condition  of  the  representation,  the  rotten 
boroughs,  as  those  in  decay  were  called,  and  the  pocket 
boroughs,  a  name  applied  to  those  which  were  the  prop- 
erty of  individuals,  opened  the  way  for  shameless  corrup- 
tion. Where  the  electorate  was  small  and  the  secret 
ballot  unknown  bribery  had  free  rein.  Seats  were  openly 
bought  and  sold.  As  early  as  1770  the  elder  Pitt  (Lord 
Chatham)  had  placed  his  finger  upon  this  ailing  spot  in 
the  English  body  politic,  and  had  said,  "Before  the  end 
of  this  century,  either  the  Parliament  will  reform  itself 
from  within,  or  be  reformed  with  a  vengeance  from  with- 
out." His  prediction  was  falsified  by  the  reactionary 
effect  of  the  French  Revolution,  which  not  only  made  the 
English  aristocracy  cautious  about  readjusting  political 
arrangements,  but  kept  the  minds  and  hands  of  English- 
men so  fully  occupied  with  foreign  affairs  as  to  divert 
attention  from  their  own  domestic  troubles.  At  the  close 
of  the  long  struggle  with  Napoleon  the  question  came 
rapidly  to  the  front.  Financial  distress  and  industrial 
depression  made  the  populace  restless  and  discontented. 
The  glowing  principles  which  had  inspired  the  French 
Revolution  in  its  early  days  with  its  watchwords  of  "Lib- 
erty, Equality,  and  Fraternity,"  gained  a  deep  lodgment 
in  the  popular  mind.  The  dissatisfaction  vented  itself  in 
attacks  upon  a  political  system  which  denied  the  right  of 
representation  to  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  wealth-pro- 
ducing population. 

The  government  at  first  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  these 


Russell  and  Parliamentary  Reform          83 

appeals,  then  tried  to  suppress  the  agitation  which  swept 
through  the  great  manufacturing  towns.  It  was  one  of 
these  bungling  attempts  to  silence  free  speech  in  Man- 
chester on  August  16,  1819,  which  led  to  the  trampling 
and  sabring  of  many  innocent  persons  by  cavalrymen,  the 
"Peterloo  massacre,"  which  the  populace  long  cherished 
as  a  bloody  score  against  their  aristocratic  oppressors. 
For  ten  years  more  the  democratic  press  continued  to 
agitate  even  more  bitterly  for  reform,  and  a  lonely  "radi- 
cal" member  of  Parliament  would  bring  forward  his 
motions  only  to  have  them  contemptuously  thrust  aside. 
In  1830,  however,  a  ministry  came  into  power  which 
allowed  nothing  to  stand  in  the  way  until  the  long  awaited 
bill  had  become  a  law.  The  condition  which  contributed 
to  its  success,  the  incidents  of  the  tremendous  parlia- 
mentary struggle,  and  the  men  who  carried  it  through, 
are  all  worthy  of  the  most  careful  attention  of  the  student 
of  human  affairs. 

The  death  of  George  IV.  (June  26,  1830)  made  way 
for  his  brother,  William  IV.,  and  made  necessary  a  general 
parliamentary  election.  The  summer  had  seen  a  liberal 
revolution  in  Paris.  The  Bourbons  had  been  thrust  out  and 
Louis  Philippe  had  been  accepted  as  the  citizen-king  of 
the  French,  governing  under  a  liberal  constitution.  This 
revolution,  and  simultaneous  movements  throughout  west- 
ern Europe,  touched  an  answering  chord  in  the  breasts  of 
Englishmen,  and  the  Tories  found  themselves  in  a  minor- 
ity when  the  new  Parliament  assembled  in  November. 
The  Duke  of  Wellington  was  Prime  Minister,  the  last 
man  from  whom  the  popular  cause  could  expect  to  receive 
any  concessions.  At  the  opening  of  the  session  the 
premier  took  occasion  to  declare  his  disbelief  "that  the 


84  Ten  Englishmen 

state  of  representation  could  be  improved  or  be  rendered 
more  satisfactory  to  the  country  at  large  than  at  the 
present  moment."  "I  am  fully  convinced,"  he  said, 
"that  the  country  possesses  a  legislature  which  answers 
all  the  good  purposes  of  legislation,  and  this  to  a  greater 
degree  than  any  legislature  has  answered  in  any  other 
country  whatever."  He  flatly  declared  his  determined 
opposition  to  any  measure  of  reform.  Within  a  fortnight 
his  government  met  its  Waterloo  and  he  resigned. 

Earl  Gray,  the  Whig  premier  who  succeeded  Welling- 
ton, came  into  office  fully  resolved  to  pass  a  Reform  Bill. 
The  responsibility  of  drafting  the  measure  was  intrusted 
to  a  young  Whig  commoner,  Lord  John  Russell,  a  younger 
son  of  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  and  a  scion  of  one  of  the 
great  Whig  houses.  Lord  John  Russell  had  entered 
Parliament  in  1813,  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  for  one  of 
the  family  boroughs.  He  was  now  in  his  thirty-seventh 
year,  and  his  parliamentary  career,  if  not  brilliant  for 
oratory,  had  at  least  been  marked  by  intelligent  devotion 
to  high  ideals.  In  1819,  before  the  echoes  of  Peterloo 
had  died  away,  he  had  asked  Parliament  to  disfranchise  all 
boroughs  of  proved  corruption,  and  transfer  their  repre- 
sentation to  more  deserving  constituencies.  A  little  later 
he  proved  to  the  House  the  corruption  existing  at  Gram- 
pound,  and  secured  the  disfranchisement  of  that  borough 
and  the  transfer  of  its  voting  rights  to  the  great  county 
of  York.  This  was  but  a  small  step,  but  it  opened  the 
way  to  tremendous  changes.  He  was  determined,  he  said, 
to  strip  "the  dead  bones  of  a  former  state  of  England" 
of  their  political  influence  and  give  it  to  the  "living  energy 
of  England  of  the  nineteenth  century,  with  its  steam 
engines  and  its  factories,  its  cotton  and  woolen  cloths,  its 


Russell  and  Parliamentary  Reform          85 

cutlery  and  its  coal  mines,  its  wealth  and  its  intelligence." 
Session  after  session  he  returned  to  this  text  only  to  be 
as  often  defeated  by  the  Tories.  He  was  more  successful 
in  1828  when  he  carried  the  repeal  of  the  Test  and  Cor- 
poration Acts,  relics  of  a  bygone  age  when  it  was  thought 
necessary  to  the  safety  of  the  nation  to  exclude  from  mili- 
tary or  civil  office  all  persons  who  did  not  take  the  com- 
munion in  accordance  with  the  ritual  of  the  Established 
Church.  "Lord  John,"  as  he  came  to  be  called  in  the 
course  of  his  half-century  of  parliamentary  life,  would 
have  advanced  from  the  relief  of  Protestant  dissenters  to 
the  emancipation  of  the  Catholics,  had  not  the  Tories,  in 
their  dread  of  civil  war  in  Ireland,  forestalled  him,  and 
made  the  measure  their  own  (April,  1829). 

The  first  Reform  Bill,  which  had  been  drafted  by  Rus- 
sell, and  worked  over  by  Lord  Durham  and  other  ministers, 
was  presented  to  the  Commons  on  March  I,  1831.  Its 
provisions  had  been  kept  profoundly  secret,  and  the  house 
was  thronged  to  hear  them  explained  in  the  low  and  meas- 
ured tones  of  Lord  John  Russell.  The  nation  was  as 
eager  as  the  immediate  auditory  to  know  how  far  the 
government  would  go  in  granting  the  popular  demand. 
Touching  upon  some  of  the  existing  anomalies  the  speaker 
imagined  a  foreigner  visiting  England;  having  been  im- 
pressed with  British  wealth,  civilization,  and  renown, 
"Would  not  such  a  foreigner,"  he  queried,  "be  much 
astonished  if  he  were  taken  to  a  green  mound  and  informed 
that  it  sent  two  members  to  the  British  Parliament?  .... 
or  if  he  walked  into  a  park  without  the  vestige  of  a  dwell- 
ing and  was  told  that  it,  too,  sent  two  members  to  the 
British  Parliament?  But  if  he  was  surprised  at  this,  how 
much  more  would  he  be  astonished  if  he  were  carried  into 


86  Ten  Englishmen 

the  north  of  England,  where  he  would  see  large,  flourish- 
ing towns,  full  of  trade,  activity,  and  intelligence,  vast 
magazines  of  wealth  and  manufactures,  and  were  told  that 
these  places  sent  no  representatives  to  Parliament!" 

By  the  provisions  of  the  bill  sixty  boroughs  with  less 
than  two  thousand  members  were  to  lose  both  members, 
and  forty-seven  boroughs  were  to  be  reduced  to  a  single 
member.  Of  the  seats  thus  vacated  eight  were  to  be  given 
to  London,  thirty-four  to  large  towns,  fifty-five  to  English 
counties,  five  to  Scotland,  three  to  Ireland,  one  to  Wales. 
The  franchise  was  to  be  extended  to  inhabitants  of  houses 
taxed  at  ten  pounds  a  year,  and  to  leaseholders  and  copy- 
holders of  counties.  The  changes  added  about  half  a 
million  to  the  number  of  voters  in  the  United  Kingdom. 

The  country  followed  the  progress  of  the  debate  with 
intense  interest  night  after  night.  The  bill  passed  to  its 
second  reading  by  a  majority  of  one  in  the  fullest  house 
on  record  and  the  country  gave  itself  up  to  illuminations 
and  other  expressions  of  joy.  But  the  bill  got  no  farther. 
The  majority  was  too  close  for  the  comfort  of  the  minis- 
ters, and  having  been  defeated  on  a  matter  of  detail,  they 
confidently  appealed  to  the  country.  The  King  dissolved 
Parliament,  and  writs  were  issued  for  a  general  election. 
It  was  at  this  juncture,  when  London  was  illuminating  to 
show  its  satisfaction  over  the  prospect  for  a  reform  victory, 
that  the  darkened  windows  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington's 
town  house  were  stoned  by  the  populace. 

The  rallying  cries  of  the  Whigs  were  "The  bill,  the 
whole  bill,  and  nothing  but  the  bill,"  and  "Reform,  Aye 
or  No?"  Popular  agitation  by  associations,  newspapers, 
speech-making,  monster  meetings,  etc.,  reached  an  unpre- 
cedented height,  and  the  force  of  public  opinion  was 


Russell  and  Parliamentary  Reform  87 

shown  at  the  polls.  In  spite  of  pocket  boroughs,  family 
influence,  and  flagrant  corruption,  the  reformers  came  back 
to  Parliament  with  their  majority  increased  to  fully  one 
hundred.  Of  the  eighty-two  members  for  the  counties 
where  the  popular  feeling  had  its  freest  expression,  only 
six  were  opposed  to  Lord  Russell's  scheme  of  reform. 

Lord  Russell's  second  Reform  Bill  was  introduced  on 
June  24th.  The  minority,  hopeless  of  success  in  a  stand- 
up  fight,  resorted  to  the  obstructive  tactics  now  known  as 
"filibustering."  After  wasting  three  months  in  tedious 
obstruction  the  Commons  passed  the  bill  by  a  majority  of 
one  hundred  and  nine,  and  Lord  Grey  laid  it  before  the 
House  of  Lords  in  the  most  impressive  speech  of  his 
career.  He  endeavored  to  persuade  the  aristocrats  before 
him  that  only  by  such  concessions  could  the  Constitution 
of  England  be  saved.  Already  there  were  wide-spread 
evidences  of  popular  discontent  in  the  "nightly  alarms, 
burnings,  and  popular  disturbances."  The  rotten  bor- 
oughs could  no  longer  be  tolerated  with  safety  to  the  state. 
"This  gangrene  upon  our  representative  system  bade 
defiance  to  all  remedies  but  that  of  excision."  Deaf  to 
his  arguments,  and  blind  to  everything  but  their  own  privi- 
lege and  immediate  interest,  the  peers  pronounced  against 
the  bill. 

The  rejection  of  the  second  Reform  Bill  by  the  House 
of  Lords  brought  England  to  the  brink  of  revolution.  As 
it  was,  the  newspapers  were  full  of  signs  that  the  patience 
of  the  nation  was  exhausted.  Mobs  and  incendiary  fires 
were  reported  in  many  districts,  and  the  abolition  of  the 
House  of  Lords  found  strenuous  advocates.  It  was  at 
one  of  the  numerous  indignation  meetings  that  Sydney 
Smith  hit  off  the  attempt  of  the  Lords  to  stay  the  progress 


88  Ten  Englishmen 

of  reform  by  comparing  it  with  Mrs.  Partington's  attempt 
to  check  the  high  tide  at  Sidmouth  with  a  mop.  "The 
Atlantic  was  roused.  Mrs.  Partington's  spirit  was  up. 
But  I  need  not  tell  you  that  the  contest  was  unequal. 
The  Atlantic  Ocean  beat  Mrs.  Partington.  Gentlemen, 
be  at  your  ease;  be  quiet  and  steady;  you  will  beat  Mrs. 
Partington!" 

As  soon  as  the  Parliament  reassembled  in  Decem- 
ber, Lord  John  Russell  offered  the  third  Reform  Bill. 
It  was  identical  in  principle  with  the  others,  though 
the  number  of  the  affected  boroughs  had  been  slightly 
altered.  It  passed  its  successive  stages  by  ample  majori- 
ties and  was  in  due  order  presented  to  the  House  of  Lords. 
The  ministers  were  prepared  to  play  their  last  card. 
They  found  the  peers  determined  to  mutilate  the  proposi- 
tion in  disregard  of  the  popular  demand,  now  louder  than 
ever,  for  ''The  bill,  the  whole  bill,  and  nothing  but  the 
bill."  Earl  Grey  and  his  chancellor,  Lord  Brougham, 
thereupon  requested  King  William  to  overcome  the  oppo- 
sition by  sanctioning  the  creation  of  new  peers  sufficient 
to  insure  a  majority  for  the  act.  But  the  King  held 
back.  The  ministers  offered  their  resignations,  and  the 
King  commissioned  the  Iron  Duke  to  form  a  government. 
But  no  Tory  government  could  stand  a  day  in  the  face  of 
the  hosts  of  reform  in  the  Commons  and  in  the  nation,  as 
Wellington  had  reluctantly  to  confess.  The  monarch  had 
to  yield,  and  so  doing,  helped  establish  the  principle  more 
firmly  than  ever  before  that  the  chief  power  in  the  English 
Constitution  is  lodged  in  the  House  of  Commons,  acting- 
through  its  ministers.  In  this  case  it  was  Commons 
against  King  and  Lords,  and  the  Commons  had  their  way. 
To  save  themselves  from  an  inundation  of  new  peerages 


Russell  and  Parliamentary  Reform          89 

the  Lords  whose  hostility  to  the  bill  was  irreconcilable 
absented  themselves  from  Westminster  when  the  vote  was 
taken — "skulked  in  clubs  and  country  houses"  as  Lord 
Russell  sharply  phrased  it.  The  Duke  of  Wellington's 
words  will  show  the  temper  with  which  the  hide-bound 
Tories  received  the  act.  "Reform,  my  Lords,  has 
triumphed.  The  barriers  of  the  Constitution  are  broken 
down,  the  waters  of  destruction  have  burst  the  gates  of 
the  temple,  and  the  tempest  begins  to  howl.  Who  can 
say  where  its  course  should  stop?  Who  can  stay  its 
speed?  For  my  own  part  I  sincerely  hope  that  my  pre- 
dictions may  not  be  fulfilled,  and  that  my  country  may  not 
be  ruined." 

The  immediate  effect  of  the  reform  was  to  admit  the 
tradesmen  and  tenant-farmers,  the  sturdy  English  middle 
class,  to  a  share  in  the  government.  Thirty-five  years 
later,  after  Lord  Russell  had  made  three  or  four  futile 
endeavors  to  cany  still  further  the  principle  of  reform, 
his  opponents,  the  Conservatives,  led  by  Lord  Derby  and 
Mr.  Disraeli,  passed  the  Reform  Bills  of  1867-68,  greatly 
reducing  the  property  qualification  of  voters,  and  rectify- 
ing inequalities  in  borough  representation.  Under  this 
act  most  of  the  mechanic  and  artisan  class  gained  the 
right  to  vote.  Finally,  in  1884,  Mr.  Gladstone  carried 
the  reform  another  stage,  conferring  the  franchise  upon 
two  millions  of  poor  men,  including  the  class  of  agricul- 
tural laborers. 

His  contribution  to  the  success  of  reform  identified 
Lord  John  Russell  with  the  cause  of  liberty,  and  made 
him  a  leading  man.  It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this 
sketch  to  follow  him  through  the  shifting  scenes  of  the 
honorable  career  in  politics  and  statesmanship  which  now 


90  Ten  Englishmen 

opened  out  before  him,  and  which  continued  until,  when  at 
nearly  four-score,  the  party  leadership  passed  from  him 
to  his  able  associate,  William  Ewart  Gladstone.  Among 
the  notable  measures  in  which  he  had  a  leading  hand  was 
the  Municipal  Reform  Act  of  1835,  which  put  the  govern- 
ment of  cities  in  the  hands  of  the  taxpayers  and  did  away 
with  the  effete  and  corrupt  corporations  which  had  exer- 
cised it.  His  "Edinburgh  letter,"  in  1845,  hastened  Peel's 
conversion  to  free  trade.  He  was  ever  concerned  in 
religion  and  education.  After  the  overthrow  of  Peel's 
government,  in  1846,  he  was  raised  to  the  premiership. 
He  held  the  position  until  1852,  and  again,  from  October, 
1865,  to  June,  1866.  His  retirement  in  the  latter  year 
removed  from  British  politics  a  conspicuous  figure.  It 
was  a  figure  which  had  filled  a  large  place  in  the  affairs  of 
the  world,  and  for  the  most  part  filled  it  well,  though 
never  again  in  his  career  was  it  his  lot  to  become  such  a 
popular  hero  as  he  was  during  the  early  battles  for  reform. 
Russell's  death,  in  1878,  brought  up  the  varied  panorama 
of  his  life.  McCarthy,  in  reviewing  it,  touches  upon  some 
of  its  points  of  interest.  "He  had  a  seat  in  the  admin- 
istration at  his  disposal  when  another  young  man  might 
have  been  glad  of  a  seat  in  an  opera  box.  He  must  have 
been  brought  into  more  or  less  intimate  association  with 
all  the  men  and  women  worth  knowing  in  Europe  since 
the  early  part  of  the  century.  He  was  a  pupil  of  Dugald 
Stewart  at  Edinburgh,  and  he  sat  as  a  youth  at  the  feet 
of  Fox.  He  had  accompanied  Wellington  in  some  of  his 
peninsular  campaigns;  he  measured  swords  with  Canning 
and  Peel  successively  through  years  of  parliamentary 
warfare.  He  knew  Metternich  and  Talleyrand.  He  had 
met  the  widow  of  Charles  Stuart,  the  young  chevalier,  in 


Russell  and  Parliamentary  Reform          91 

Florence;  and  had  conversed  with  Napoleon  in  Elba.  He 
knew  Cavour  and  Bismarck.  He  was  now  an  ally  of 
Daniel  O'Connell,  and  now  of  Cobden  and  Bright.  He 
was  the  close  friend  of  Thomas  Moore;  he  knew  Byron. 
Lord  John  Russell  had  tastes  for  literature,  for  art,  for 
philosophy,  for  history,  for  politics,  and  his  oestheticism 
had  the  advantage  that  it  made  him  seek  the  society  and 
appreciate  the  worth  of  men  of  genius  and  letters.  Thus 
he  never  remained  a  mere  politician  like  Pitt  or  Palmer- 
ston." 

No  one  will  now  claim  that  Earl  Russell — he  was 
raised  to  the  peerage  with  this  title — is  to  be  ranked 
with  the  few  greatest  of  English  statesmen,  but  that  he 
served  his  country  devotedly,  honorably,  and  courageously 
will  not  be  denied.  His  contemporary,  Lord  Shaftesbury, 
noted  his  death  in  his  own  journal  with  this  just  com- 
ment: "To  have  begun  with  disapprobation,  to  have 
fought  through  many  difficulties,  to  have  announced  and 
acted  on  principles  new  to  the  day  in  which  he  lived,  to 
have  filled  many  important  offices,  to  have  made  many 
speeches  and  written  many  books,  and  in  his  whole  course 
to  have  done  much  with  credit  and  nothing  with  dishonor, 
and  so  to  have  sustained  and  advanced  his  reputation  to 
the  very  end,  is  a  mighty  commendation."  And  the  Queen, 
in  a  letter  to  his  widow,  wrote:  "You  will  believe  that  I 
truly  regret  an  old  friend  of  forty  years'  standing,  and 
whose  personal  kindness  in  trying  and  anxious  times  I 
shall  ever  remember.  'Lord  John,'  as  I  knew  him  best, 
was  one  of  my  first  and  most  distinguished  ministers,  and 
his  departure  recalls  many  eventful  times." 


92  Ten  Englishmen 


QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW 

1.  In  what  ways  did  Parliament  fail  to  be  "  representative  " 
at  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  ? 

2.  What  circumstances  favored  agitation  of  this  condition  ? 

3.  What  was  the  "  Peterloo  Massacre  "  ? 

4.  Who  was  Lord  Russell,  and  what  his  early  relation  to 
the  reform  movement  ? 

5.  What  was  the  Test  and  Corporation  Act,  and  when 
repealed  ? 

6.  Describe  the  first  Reform  Bill,  and  its  effect  upon  the 
House  of  Commons  ? 

7.  How  was  the  second  bill  treated  by  the  Commons  and 
by  the  Lords  ? 

8.  What  circumstances  attended  the  passage  of  the  third 
bill? 

9.  How  was  the  principle  of  reform  extended  in  later  years  ? 
10.   What  peculiar  privileges  did  Lord  John  Russell  enjoy  ? 
n.   How  is  his  character  shown  in  the  use  which  he  made 

of  them  ? 


Life  of  Earl  Russell.    S.J.Reid. 
Recollections  and  Suggestions.     Lord  John  Russell. 
The  Epoch  of  Reform.    Justin  McCarthy. 
History  of  the  Reform  Bill.    W.  N.  Molesworth. 


VI 

COBDEN  AND  FREE  TRADE 

[RICHARD  COBDEN,  born,  1804,  at  Dunford,  near  Midhurst, 
Sussex;  died,  London,  1865;  after  grammar  school  education, 
entered  mercantile  house  in  London,  soon  becoming  a  travel- 
ing salesman ;  about  1 830  became  founder  of  a  cotton-printing 
concern  at  Manchester;  traveled  in  Europe  and  America; 
wrote  pamphlets  on  commercial  and  economic  questions; 
1838,  became  an  ardent  supporter  of  the  Anti-Corn  Law 
League;  1841,  Member  of  Parliament  for  Stockport;  advo- 
cate of  free  trade  in  the  House  of  Commons;  received 
popular  testimonial  of  .£79,000  in  recognition  of  his  services 
to  the  free  trade  cause;  1847-57,  Member  of  Parliament 
for  West  Riding  of  York;  advocate  of  arbitration  and 
diminished  expense  for  military  purposes;  1849,  Member  of 
Parliament  for  Rochdale;  1860,  negotiated  commercial 
treaty  with  France.] 

The  Reform  Bill  of  1832  invaded  the  privileges  of  the 
landed  aristocracy  by  destroying  in  some  measure  their 
control  of  the  House  of  Commons  through  the  pocket 
boroughs.  Sixteen  years  later  a  second  blow  was  struck 
at  this  class  through  the  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws. 

The  Corn  Laws  aimed  to  secure  to  English  agricultur- 
ists a  monopoly  of  the  home  market  for  grain.  The  wars 
with  Napoleon,  which  paralyzed  continental  industries, 
stimulated  those  of  England  to  abnormal  prosperity. 
Food  advanced  in  price,  but  labor  was  in  great  demand 
and  well  paid.  The  prospect  of  approaching  peace  in 
Europe,  in  1813,  precipitated  hard  times  in  Great  Britain. 

93 


94  Ten  Englishmen 

The  price  of  wheat  fell  and  manufactures  declined.  The 
land-owning  classes,,  then  supreme  in  Parliament,  enacted 
the  Corn  Law  of  1815  for  their  own  protection.  By  its 
provisions  the  importation  of  grain  from  foreign  countries 
was  practically  prohibited  until  the  price  in  England 
reached  eighty  shillings  per  quarter.  Ten  members  of 
the  House  of  Lords  protested  against  the  measure  on  the 
grounds  that  all  restraint  of  trade  was  improper;  that  the 
restraint  of  trade  in  food  was  especially  iniquitous;  that 
the  law  would  not  steady  or  cheapen  prices;  and  that 
"such  a  measure  levied  a  tax  on  the  consumer  in  order  to 
give  a  bounty  to  the  grower  of  corn, ' ' — principles  which 
have  a  modern  sound. 

England  was  at  that  time  living  under  a  system  of  high 
protective  tariffs  upon  imported  articles  of  manufacture 
as  well  as  of  food.  But  in  1823-25  Mr.  Huskisson  suc- 
ceeded in  having  most  of  the  tariffs  upon  raw  materials 
reduced  to  a  fraction  of  the  former  figures,  with  the  result 
that  production  was  enormously  stimulated  and  valuable 
foreign  markets  were  opened  to  English  commodities. 
His  only  modification  of  the  Corn  Law  (in  1822)  was  to 
reduce  by  ten  shillings  the  figure  at  which  importations 
might  begin.  Later  he  and  Canning  made  some  progress 
with  a  "sliding  scale"  bill,  a  principle  which  the  Duke  of 
Wellington  enacted  into  law  in  1828.  This  interesting 
device  provided  that  when  the  price  in  the  home  market 
reached  sixty-four  shillings  the  quarter  the  duty  should  be 
233  8d.  As  the  price  rose  the  duty  fell.  When  wheat 
was  695,  the  duty  was  i6s  8d,  and  when  the  price 
reached  735,  foreign  corn  might  come  in  on  payment  of 
one  shilling  per  quarter. 

As  has  been  shown  in  a  foregoing  chapter,  the  past  half- 


Cobden  and  Free  Trade  95 

century  had  witnessed  a  great  transformation  in  the  indus- 
trial complexion  of  England — from  a  nation  chiefly  agricul- 
tural it  had  become  the  center  of  the  world's  manufactures. 
Tens  of  thousands  of  families  had  removed  from  the  farms 
to  the  cities,  "following  the  work"  in  the  mills  and  fac- 
tories, and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  pounds  had  been 
invested  in  a  great  diversity  of  industrial  enterprises. 
The  manufacturer  and  the  mill-hand  were  alike  interested 
in  low  prices  for  food.  The  manufacturer  also  saw  in  the 
high  tariff  on  grain  a  barrier  against  the  free  exchange  of 
commodities.  As  his  output  increased  it  became  neces- 
sary for  him  to  enlarge  his  market,  but  when  he  attempted 
to  sell  his  goods  to  America  and  Russia  the  law  interposed 
to  block  the  bargain  by  excluding  those  grain-producing 
countries  from  selling  their  superfluous  food-stocks  in 
England.  Apparently  here  was  a  clash  between  the  inter- 
ests of  manufacturer  and  agriculturist. 

In  1836  a  few  thoughtful  men  in  London,  who  were 
opposed  to  any  restraint  of  trade,  formed  an  Anti-Corn 
Law  Association.  But  the  metropolis  was  stony  soil  for 
such  a  plant.  In  1838  a  similar  association  was  organized 
in  Manchester,  one  of  the  new  industrial  cities  dominated 
by  modern  ideas,  crowded  with  factories,  and  populous 
with  laboring  men  and  women,  a  fit  center  for  such  an 
agitation  as  was  to  precede  the  downfall  of  the  tax  on 
food.  In  Manchester,  too,  in  the  person  of  a  calico- 
printer  named  Richard  Cobden,  the  agitation  found  its 
mainspring  and  its  clear  and  persuasive  voice. 

Richard  Cobden  sprang  from  a  long  line  of  plain  Sussex 
yeomen.  His  father  was  a  farmer  who  became  bankrupt 
in  1813,  and  the  lad  Richard,  one  of  twelve  children,  was 
sent  by  a  well-meaning  'relative  to  a  Yorkshire  boarding- 


96  Ten  Englishmen 

school — a  sort  of  Dotheboys  Hall.  From  such  a  rough 
school  he  passed  into  the  rougher  one  of  life,  becoming 
the  lad  of  all  work  in  the  London  warehouse  of  the  same 
kinsman,  later  a  clerk,  and  at  twenty-one  a  traveling  sales- 
man, or  "drummer,"  a  position  for  which  his  untiring 
energy  and  engaging  sociability  were  high  qualifications. 
A  great  reader,  he  was  also  a  superior  converser  and  a 
"mixer"  as  the  present-day  phrase  goes,  adapting  himself 
to  his  company  with  unusual  facility.  John  Morley 
records  that  all  his  friends  agree  that  "they  have  never 
known  a  man  in  whom  this  trait  of  a  sound  and  rational 
desire  to  know  and  to  learn  was  so  strong  and  so  inex- 
haustible." "To  know  the  affairs  of  the  world  was  the 
master-passion  of  his  life, ' '  and  the  knowledge  which  he 
gained  and  assimilated  not  merely  in  his  early  contact 
with  men  in  his  business,  but  in  the  wider  journeys  of 
observation  to  which  he  treated  himself  in  later  years, 
contributed  much  to  the  enrichment  of  his  speeches  and 
writings. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-four,  with  two  other  young  men, 
whose  capital  like  his  own  was  little  more  than  energy, 
probity,  and  business  knowledge,  he  founded  a  firm  in 
London  for  the  sale  of  Manchester  cotton  prints  on  com- 
mission. Soon  the  firm  was  printing  its  own  goods  in 
Lancashire,  and  Mr.  Cobden,  prospering  greatly  from  the 
first,  took  up  his  residence  in  Manchester,  to  watch  over 
that  end  of  the  business.  Though  as  full  of  affairs  as  any 
man  in  that  hive  of  industry,  Cobden  found  time  to  store 
his  mind  by  reading  and  by  reflection  upon  the  knowledge 
gained  by  intercourse  with  his  fellowmen.  He  visited 
France,  Switzerland,  and  in  1835,  America,  where  he 
foresaw  a  growing  market  for  his  wares,  and  where,  as 


Cobden  and  Free  Trade  97 

he  wrote,  he  fondly  hoped  "would  be  realized  some  of 
those  dreams  of  human  exaltation  if  not  of  perfection" 
with  which  he  loved  to  console  himself.  In  1836-37  he 
visited  the  Mediterranean  countries,  and  on  his  return  was 
an  unsuccessful  candidate  for  a  seat  in  the  House  of 
Commons. 

In  May,  1838,  Richard  Cobden  wrote  to  his  brother 
concerning  the  political  outlook  in  the  nation,  the  Chartist 
agitation,  the  Radical  demands,  and  the  general  disorgani- 
zation which  existed  among  the  opponents  of  Tory  govern- 
ment. The  letter  includes  these  significant  words:  "I 
think  the  scattered  elements  may  yet  be  rallied  round  the 
question  of  the  Corn  Laws.  It  appears  to  me  that  a 
moral,  and  even  a  religious,  spirit  may  be  infused  into  that 
topic,  and  if  agitated  in  the  same  manner  that  the  ques- 
tion of  slavery  has  been,  it  will  be  irresistible." 

The  purposes  of  the  Manchester  Anti-Corn  Law  Asso- 
ciation are  thus  stated  by  Morley:  "To  obtain  by  all  legal 
and  constitutional  means,  such  as  the  formation  of  local 
associations,  the  delivery  of  lectures,  the  distribution  of 
tracts,  and  the  presentation  of  petitions  to  Parliament,  the 
total  and  immediate  repeal  of  the  Corn  and  Provision 
Laws."  Mr.  Cobden  became  a  member  of  the  executive 
committee,  and  his  mind,  voice,  and  pen  were  active  in  the 
service  of  the  society  until  its  object  was  attained.  In 
response  to  his  appeal  for  a  campaign  fund  ("Let  us  invest 
part  of  our  property  in  order  to  save  the  rest  from  con- 
fiscation") six  thousand  pounds  poured  into  the  treasury 
within  a  month.  The  local  societies,  which  sprang  up  like 
wildfire  in  the  manufacturing  towns,  were  affiliated  with 
that  at  Manchester,  which  soon  became  the  headquarters 
of  a  far-reaching  league. 


98  Ten  Englishmen 

The  leaguers  carried  political  agitation  to  a  point  of 
thoroughness  beyond  anything  which  had  yet  been  reached 
by  O'Connell  or  the  abolitionists.  They  issued  a  news- 
paper organ  which  enunciated  its  principles  and  denounced 
the  enemies  of  free  trade.  Vast  editions  of  tracts  and 
leaflets  were  scattered  broadcast  throughout  the  land,  and 
a  staff  of  carefully  instructed  speakers  was  maintained  to 
itinerate  through  the  rural  districts  and  preach  the  gospel 
of  free  corn  in  tavern,  market-place,  and  town  hall. 

In  Parliament  the  battle  must  be  won,  and  the  league 
soon  began  its  work  of  capturing  seats  in  the  House  of 
Commons.  Cobden  himself  was  chosen,  in  1841,  as 
member  for  Stockport.  Almost  immediately  he  exercised 
his  gift  as  a  speaker,  securing  at  once  the  attention  of  his 
colleagues  by  his  style  of  oratory,  which,  with  little  formal 
eloquence  or  rhetorical  elaboration,  was  powerfully  per- 
suasive, enriched  by  many  happy  illustrations  drawn  from 
life,  and  infused  with  a  pure  and  lofty  spirit.  Whatever 
the  topic  under  discussion,  he  was  always  able  to  show 
its  relation  to  the  obnoxious  tariff,  and  to  point  out  that 
the  only  sure  remedy  for  the  prevalent  national  ills  was  by 
way  of  the  repeal  of  "the  tax  on  bread."  At  first  the 
young  calico-printer — he  was  but  thirty-seven — who 
embodied  the  opposition  to  the  Corn  Laws,  was  looked 
upon  as  an  intruder  by  the  young  aristocrats  of  the 
House.  They  made  fun  of  his  classical  allusions,  and 
magnified  his  lack  of  education,  attempting  to  laugh  down 
his  logic.  But  Cobden  was  not  long  in  proving  his  ability 
to  take  care  of  himself  on  the  floor  of  the  House.  It  was 
no  mere  politician  who  caught  the  ear  of  the  country  with 
words  like  these:  "When  I  go  down  to  the  manufacturing 
districts,  I  know  that  I  shall  be  returning  to  a  gloomy 


Cobden  and  Free  Trade  99 

scene.  I  know  that  starvation  is  stalking  through  the 
land,  and  that  men  are  perishing  for  the  want  of  the 
merest  necessaries  of  life.  When  I  witness  this,  and 
recollect  that  there  is  a  law  which  especially  provides  for 
keeping  our  population  in  absolute  want,  I  cannot  help 
attributing  murder  to  the  legislature  of  this  country;  and 
wherever  I  stand,  whether  here  or  out-of-doors,  I  will 
denounce  that  system  of  legislative  murder." 

Out-of-doors  Mr.  Cobden  had  the  strong  support  of 
the  most  eloquent  Englishman  of  his  generation,  John 
Bright.  The  two  men  had  been  drawn  together  early  by 
a  common  interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  manufacturing 
classes,  and  especially  in  popular  education.  In  Septem- 
ber, 1841,  Cobden  visited  his  friend  in  his  house,  and 
found  him  plunged  in  sadness  by  the  death  of  his  young 
wife.  After  words  of  condolence,  he  said,  with  great 
earnestness,  "John,  there  are  thousands  of  houses  in 
England  at  this  moment  where  wives,  mothers,  and  chil- 
dren are  dying  of  hunger.  Now  when  the  first  paroxysm 
of  your  grief  is  passed,  I  would  advise  you  to  come  with 
me  and  we  will  never  rest  until  the  Corn  Law  is  repealed." 

"For  seven  years,"  Mr.  Bright  afterward  said,  "the 
discussion  on  that  one  question — whether  it  was  good  for 
a  man  to  have  half  a  loaf  or  a  whole  loaf — for  seven  years 
the  discussion  was  maintained,  I  will  not  say  with  doubtful 
result,  for  the  result  was  never  doubtful  and  never  could 
be  in  such  a  cause;  but  for  five  years  or  more  (1841-46), 
we  devoted  ourselves  without  stint;  every  working  hour 
almost  was  given  up  to  the  discussion  and  to  the  move- 
ment in  connection  with  this  question." 

Mr.  Morley's  description  of  the  two  orators  and  their 
mission  is  memorable:  "The  public  imagination  was 


ioo  Ten  Englishmen 

struck  by  the  figures  of  the  pair  who  had  given  themselves 
up  to  a  great  public  cause.  The  picture  of  two  plain  men 
leaving  their  homes  and  their  business  and  going  over  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  land  to  convert  the  nation,  had 
about  it  something  apostolic;  it  presented  something  so 
far  removed  from  the  stereotyped  ways  of  political  activ- 
ity, that  this  circumstance  alone,  apart  from  the  object 
for  which  they  were  pleading,  touched  and  affected  people, 
and  gave  a  certain  dramatic  interest  to  the  long  pilgrim- 
ages of  the  two  men  who  had  only  become  orators  because 
they  had  something  to  say  which  they  were  intent  on 
bringing  their  hearers  to  believe,  and  which  happened  to 

be  true,  wise,  and  just In  Cobden,  as  in  Bright, 

we  feel  that  there  was  nothing  personal  or  small,  and  that 
what  they  cared  for  so  vehemently  were  great  causes. 
....  Mr.  Bright  had  all  the  resources  of  passion  alive 
within  his  breast.  He  was  carried  along  by  vehement 
political  anger,  and  deeper  than  that  there  glowed  a  wrath 
as  stern  as  that  of  an  ancient  prophet.  To  cling  to  a 
mischievous  error  seemed  to  him  to  savor  of  moral  deprav- 
ity and  corruption  of  heart.  What  he  saw  was  the  selfish- 
ness of  the  aristocracy  and  the  landlords  and  he  was  too 
deeply  moved  by  the  hatred  of  this  to  care  to  deal  very 
patiently  with  the  bad  reasoning  which  their  own  self- 
interest  inclined  his  adversaries  to  mistake  for  good.  His 
invective  was  not  the  expression  of  mere  irritation,  but  "a 
profound  and  menacing  passion.  Hence  he  dominated 
his  audiences  from  a  height,  while  his  companion  rather 
drew  them  along  after  him  as  friends  and  equals.  Cobden 
was  by  no  means  incapable  of  passion,  of  violent  feeling, 
or  of  vehement  expression.  His  fighting  qualities  were 
in  their  own  way  as  formidable  as  Mr.  Bright's 


Cobden  and  Free  Trade  101 

Still  it  was  not  passion  to  which  we  must  look  for  the 
secret  of  his  oratorical  success.  In  one  word,  it  was  per- 
suasiveness. Cobden  made  his  way  to  men's  hearts  by 
the  union  which  they  saw  in  him  of  simplicity,  earnest- 
ness, and  conviction,  with  a  singular  facility  of  exposition. 
This  facility  consisted  in  a  remarkable  power  of  apt  and 
homely  illustration,  and  a  curious  ingenuity  in  framing  the 

argument  that  happened  to  be  wanted In  such  an 

appeal  to  popular  sentiment  and  popular  passion  as  the 
contemporary  agitation  of  O'Connell  for  repeal,  he  could 
have  played  no  leading  part.  Where  knowledge  and  logic 
were  the  proper  instruments,  Cobden  was  a  master." 
Nor  did  his  efficiency  cease  when  the  audience  dispersed. 
In  council  chamber  and  work-room  his  alert  and  inventive 
mind  and  persuasive  conversational  eloquence  had  free 
scope.  His  hopeful  enthusiasm,  his  clever  devices  for 
stimulating  the  jaded  interest  of  the  masses,  and  his 
unfailing  good  humor  made  him  the  chief  engineer  of  the 
highly  complex  machinery  of  the  league. 

His  enthusiasm  led  to  the  formation  of  associations  in 
all  the  centers  of  industry;  it  redoubled  the  efforts  and 
efficiency  of  the  lecturers  who  carried  the  doctrines  of  the 
league  into  the  agricultural  counties — the  enemy's  country; 
it  replenished  the  treasury  of  the  league  with  thousands  of 
pounds  by  subscriptions  and  by  grand  bazaars,  one  of  which 
netted  ten  thousand  pounds;  it  gave  life  and  variety  to 
the  newspaper  "organ  of  the  agitation;  and  in  Parliament 
it  met  the  government  by  a  constant  fire  of  questions,  a 
bombardment  of  solid  fact,  and  a  harassing  recurrence  to 
the  necessity  of  total  and  immediate  repeal  as  the  only 
salve  for  the  economic  sores  of  the  kingdom. 

His    parliamentary  opponents    attacked    him   fiercely. 


IO2  Ten  Englishmen 

They  accused  him  of  hypocrisy  in  carrying  on  an  agitation 
professedly  for  the  general  good,  but  really  intended  to 
help  the  cotton  manufacturers  at  the  expense  of  the  land- 
owners and  agriculturists.  They  laid  at  Cobden's  door 
the  miseries  of  the  mill-hands  of  Manchester,  crying 
"Physician,  heal  thyself."  So  strongly  intrenched  was 
"monopoly"  in  the  House  of  Commons  that  it  was  slow 
work  for  the  Anti-Corn  Law  League  with  its  weapons  of 
peaceful  agitation  to  drive  it  out.  Year  after  year  the 
orators  traveled  through  the  three  kingdoms,  addressing 
thousands,  tracts  were  distributed  by  the  ton,  and  enor- 
mous sums  of  money  were  subscribed  (the  amount  for  1844 
being  nearly  a  hundred  thousand  pounds).  In  order  that 
the  popular  opinion  thus  carefully  cultivated  might  be 
brought  effectively  to  bear  at  the  next  parliamentary  elec- 
tion, the  league  took  care  that  every  qualified  free  trader 
was  registered  on  the  polling  lists.  At  Cobden's  sugges- 
tion large  numbers  of  workingmen  qualified  by  becoming 
freeholders. 

The  eloquence  of  Bright,  the  cogent  reasoning  of 
Cobden,  and  the  long  campaign  of  education  were  steadily 
doing  their  work.  The  number  of  professed  free  trad- 
ers in  Parliament  was  still  small,  but  the  thoughtful  leaders 
of  the  great  parties,  the  men  who  studied  the  sentiment 
of  the  country,  and  watched  the  signs  of  the  times,  and 
weighed  well  the  masses  of  evidence  which  the  league 
continually  brought  forward — these  men  were  being  con- 
verted to  the  Manchester  idea.  What  Cobden  said  in  a 
popular  assembly  in  the  summer  of  1845  was  truer  than 
even  he  may  have  believed.  "What,"  he  asked,  "if  you 
could  get  at  the  minds  of  the  people  would  you  find  them 
thinking  as  to  the  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws?  I  know  it  as 


Cobden  and  Free  Trade  103 

well  as  if  I  were  in  their  hearts.  It  is  this:  they  are  all 
afraid  that  this  Corn  Law  cannot  be  maintained — no,  not 
a  rag  of  it — during  a  period  of  scarcity  prices,  of  a  famine 
season,  such  as  we  had  in  '39,  '40,  and  '41.  They  know 
it.  They  are  prepared  when  such  a  time  comes  to  abolish 

the  Corn  Laws They  are  going  to  repeal  it — 

mark  my  words — at  a  season  of  distress.  That  distress 
may  come;  aye,  three  weeks  of  showery  weather,  when 
the  wheat  is  in  bloom  or  ripening,  would  repeal  these 
Corn  Laws."  He  had  already  shown  the  precarious  con- 
dition of  the  Irish  people,  whose  only  food  was  the  potato, 
and  whom  the  high  price  of  grain  kept  on  the  edge  of 
famine.  The  autumnal  rains  of  1845  precipitated  the 
crisis,  and  fulfilled  Cobden 's  prediction.  The  failure  of 
the  potato  harvest  plunged  Ireland  into  dire  distress  for 
food.  The  league  in  crowded  meetings  denounced  the 
tax  on  bread  while  men  starved.  The  government  of  Sir 
Robert  Peel  hesitated  as  to  the  proper  course.  To  sus- 
pend the  food  tariff  might  prove  a  concession  to  free  trade 
which  could  never  be  regained.  While  Peel's  cabinet 
hung  back  Lord  John  Russell,  the  leader  of  the  Whigs, 
issued  (November  22)  his  famous  Edinburgh  letter  to  his 
constituents,  declaring  that  the  time  had  come  for  the 
repeal  of  the  baneful  legislation.  Peel  was  of  the  same 
mind,  but  some  of  his  Tory  colleagues  resisted.  None 
were  more  stubborn  than  Wellington,  whose  action  at  this 
juncture  led  Cobden  to  say,  "Let  me  remind  him  that, 
notwithstanding  all  his  victories  in  the  field,  he  never  yet 
entered  into  a  contest  with  Englishmen  in  which  he  was 
not  beaten."  The  effort  of  the  Whigs  to  form  a  ministry 
having  failed,  Peel  resumed  the  premiership  which  he  had 
resigned.  Parliament  assembled  on  January  26,  1846, 


IO4  Ten  Englishmen 

and  the  Prime  Minister's  speech  foreshadowed  his  con- 
version to  the  policy  of  Cobden.  The  next  day  he 
explained  his  program.  The  Corn  Laws  were  to  be 
totally  repealed  by  gradual  reductions  of  the  duty  extend- 
ing over  a  period  of  three  years.  Despite  the  mockery  of 
Disraeli  and  the  protectionists  the  bill  passed  the  Commons 
by  a  great  majority,  and  bowing  to  superior  power,  the 
Duke  of  Wellington  helped  it  to  pass  the  House.  On 
June  26th  Cobden  carried  the  news  to  his  wife:  "Hurrah! 
Hurrah!  The  corn  bill  is  law,  and  now  my  work  is  done!" 
Cobden's  utter  consecration  of  himself  for  eight  years 
to  the  Anti-Corn  Law  agitation  had  cost  him  severely. 
The  constant  travel,  exposure,  and  hardship  of  speaking 
in  the  open  air  had  seriously  impaired  his  health.  His 
business  had  been  neglected  until  he  had  been  only  saved 
from  bankruptcy  by  the  generosity  of  friends.  The  league 
into  which  he  had  poured  his  best  thought  and  effort  hon- 
ored him  by  a  popular  subscription  amounting  to  nearly 
eighty  thousand  pounds  as  a  testimonial  to  his  public- 
spirited  devotion.  He  might  have  entered  the  govern- 
ment, but  preferred  otherwise.  During  the  twenty  years 
of  life  which  remained  to  him  he  was  the  advocate  of 
numerous  reforms.  Ever  a  lover  of  peace,  he  was  a 
strong  champion  of  the  principle  of  international  arbitra- 
tion, and  of  the  reduction  of  armaments.  The  most 
conspicuous  achievement  of  his  later  years  was  his  suc- 
cessful negotiation  of  more  liberal  commercial  treaties 
between  France  and  England,  a  service  for  which  he 
received  the  thanks  of  both  governments.  During  the 
American  Civil  War  his  sympathies  were  strongly  enlisted 
for  the  North  against  the  cause  of  the  slave-holders,  and 
his  speeches  helped  to  restrain  the  hostile  feeling  of  the 


Cobden  and  Free  Trade  105 

aristocracy.  Though  sometimes  exposing  himself  to  ridi- 
cule and  obloquy  by  running  counter  to  the  popular  cur- 
rent, Mr.  Cobden's  honesty  and  sincerity  were  such  that 
his  opponents  must  admit  his  purity  of  motive  and  nobil- 
ity of  soul.  His  death,  in  1865,  was  recognized  as  a 
national  loss. 

No  eulogium  pronounced  over  his  grave  by  Bright,  the 
companion  of  his  labors  and  triumphs,  or  by  Disraeli  and 
Gladstone,  great  converts  to  his  economic  doctrines,  is  so 
memorable  as  the  brief  passage  in  which  Sir  Robert  Peel, 
in  the  last  hours  of  his  premiership,  gave  to  the  free-trade 
agitator  the  credit  for  the  great  reform:  "In  reference  to 
our  proposing  these  measures,"  he  said,  "I  have  no  wish 
to  rob  any  person  of  the  credit  which  is  justly  due  to  him 
for  them.  But  I  may  say  that  neither  the  gentlemen 
sitting  on  the  benches  opposite,  nor  myself,  nor  the 
gentlemen  sitting  round  me — are  the  parties  who  are 

strictly  entitled  to  the  merit Sir,  the  name  which 

ought  to  be,  and  which  will  be,  associated  with  the  suc- 
cess of  these  measures  is  the  name  of  a  man  who,  acting, 
I  believe  from  pure  and  disinterested  motives,  has  advo- 
cated their  cause  with  untiring  energy,  and  by  appeals  to 
reason,  expressed  by  an  eloquence  the  more  to  be  admired 
because  it  was  unaffected  and  unadorned,  the  name  which 
ought  to  be,  and  will  be,  associated  with  the  success  of  these 
measures  is  the  name  of  Richard  Cobden.  Without  scruple, 
sir,  I  attribute  the  success  of  these  measures  to  him." 

The  commercial  policy  which  England  inaugurated,  in 
1846,  under  the  lead  of  Richard  Cobden,  continued  in 
force  throughout  the  century.  Under  its  workings  the 
commercial  supremacy  of  England  in  the  markets  of  the 
world  has  been  achieved. 


106  Ten  Englishmen 


QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW 

1.  What  conditions  brought  about  the  Corn  Laws  ? 

2.  What  was  the  object  of  the  "  sliding  scale  "  ? 

3.  How  did  the  Corn  Laws  work  against  both  mill-hand 
and  manufacturer  ? 

4.  Give  an  account  of  the  early  life  of  Richard  Cobden. 

5.  Describe  the  organization  of  the  Anti-Corn  Law  Associa- 
tion. 

6.  What  impression  did  Cobden  make   in  the  House  of 
Commons  ? 

7.  How  was  John  Bright  enlisted  in  the  agitation  ? 

8.  Compare  the  oratorical  qualities  of  the  two  men. 

9.  In  what  varied  ways  did  Cobden's  enthusiasm  make 
itself  felt  ? 

10.  What  events  fulfilled  Cobden's  prediction  and  brought 
about  the  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws  ? 

11.  What  were  the  chief  events  of  the  last  twenty  years  of 
Cobden's  life  ? 

12.  What  tribute  did  Sir  Robert  Peel  pay  to  him  ? 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Life  of  Richard  Cobden.    John  Morley. 

History  of  the  Anti-Corn  Law  League.    Prentice. 

CORN  LAW  RHYMES.    Ebenezer  Elliott. 


VII 

PEEL  AND  ADMINISTRATIVE  REFORMS 

[ROBERT  PEEL,  born  February  5,  1788,  near  Bury,  Lancashire; 
died,  London,  July  2,  1850;  educated  at  Harrow  and  Christ 
Church,  Oxford,  B.A.,  1808  (double  first);  Member  of  Parlia- 
ment, 1809;  1811,  Under-Secretary  for  the  Colonies;  1812-18, 
Secretary  for  Ireland;  1817,  Member  of  Parliament  for  Ox- 
ford University;  1819,  advocated  return  to  specie  payment; 
1820,  married  Julia,  daughter  of  General  Sir  John  Floyd; 
1822-27,  Home  Secretary,  Leader  of  House  of  Commons; 
1826,  proposed  reform  of  Criminal  Law;  1828,  Home  Secre- 
tary and  Leader  of  the  House;  1829,  proposed  Catholic 
emancipation;  1834-35,  Prime  Minister;  1841-46,  Prime 
Minister;  1842,  carried  Income  Tax;  1846,  repealed  the 
Corn  Laws;  1846-50,  without  office.] 

When  the  Reform  Bill  of  1832  was  passed,  the  Duke 
of  Wellington  bluntly  declared  his  conviction  that  the 
result  would  be  the  speedy  overthrow  of  the  British  Con- 
stitution. More  sagacious  observers  than  the  great  field- 
marshal  were  of  the  opinion  that  a  radical  change  must 
ensue,  and  that  the  Tory  party,  long  the  prop  of  Church 
and  Throne,  having  lost  control  of  legislation  in  the  House 
of  Commons  through  the  abolition  of  the  close  and  rotten 
boroughs,  could  never  regain  the  seat  of  power  by  elect- 
ing a  majority  of  members.  That  these  forebodings  and 
prophecies  did  not  come  true  was  largely  due  to  the  con- 
summate political  skill  of  Sir  Robert  Peel. 

In  reviewing  a  life  so  rich  in  public  activity  as  Peel's  it 
is  impossible  to  point  to  any  one  important  question  as  his 

107 


io8  Ten  Englishmen 

particular  contribution  to  the  history  of  his  time.  There 
was  scarcely  a  single  great  parliamentary  battle  in  which 
he  did  not  bear  a  hand  on  one  side  or  the  other.  Indeed, 
hostile  criticism  has  censured  him  for  having  in  not  a  few 
instances  carried  to  ultimate  success  the  very  measures  of 
which,  when  first  proposed,  he  had  been  the  stoutest 
enemy.  This  is  true  of  the  Resumption  of  Specie  Pay- 
ments, the  Catholic  Emancipation  Acts,  and  most  notably 
of  all  the  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws.  The  characteristics 
which  resulted  so  strangely  may  be  accounted  for  in  part 
at  least  by  some  knowledge  of  the  early  life  of  the  great 
parliamentary  leader. 

The  Peels  were  weavers  and  printers  of  calicoes.  The 
father  of  the  Prime  Minister  was  one  of  the  wealthiest 
manufacturers  in  his  generation,  a  thorough-going  Tory, 
and  an  ardent  admirer  of  Mr.  Pitt.  He  was  sent  to 
Parliament  in  1/90,  and  his  support  of  the  government  by 
his  vote  there,  and  by  his  contribution  of  fifty  thousand 
pounds  to  the  war  fund,  won  for  him,  in  1800,  a  baronetcy. 
There  had  been  Robert  Peels  before  his  day,  but  now  for 
the  first  time  there  was  a  Sir  Robert. 

Sir  Robert's  most  loving  care  was  lavished  upon  the 
training  of  his  eldest  son  and  namesake,  who  from  the  day 
of  his  birth,  February  5,  1788,  the  patriotic  father  had 
prayerfully  consecrated  to  the  service  of  his  country. 
Many  stories  are  told  of  the  pains  which  the  great  calico- 
printer  bestowed  on  the  lad's  training  for  a  public  career. 
We  see  the  little  lad  standing  on  a  table  to  declaim  or 
recite  to  his  parental  mentor,  and  read  of  the  rigor  of 
cross-examination  to  which  this  lad  of  twelve  was  subjected 
after  hearing  a  sermon  or  public  address.  A  current 
anecdote  represents  the  doting  father  as  saying,  "  Bob, 


Peel  and  Administrative  Reforms         109 

you  dog,  if  you're  not  prime  minister,  I'll  disinherit  you." 
At  Harrow,  as  a  schoolboy  he  reflected  credit  upon  his 
father's  training,  and  at  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  he  achieved 
the  unusual  honor  of  a  double  first  class  (classics  and  mathe- 
matics). When  he  left  the  university  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  his  father  provided  him  with  a  seat  in  Parliament,  and 
so,  with  every  favoring  circumstance  of  youth,  health, 
education,  friends,  and  wealth,  he  began  his  eventful 
career  in  the  House  of  Commons  which  was  to  be  the 
scene  of  his  best  labors  until  the  day  of  his  death. 

Old  Sir  Robert  and  his  son  sat  on  the  same  side  of  the 
House,  but  the  alert  and  active  mind  of  the  young  man 
could  not  accept  untested  his  father's  political  creed  of 
hide-bound  Toryism.  The  first  question  upon  which  the 
son  and  father  parted  company  was  on  the  subject  of  the 
resumption  of  specie  payments,  which  had  been  discon- 
tinued in  1797  under  the  financial  stress  of  the  war  with 
France.  In  1811  the  two  Peels  voted  together  against  a 
resolution  looking  toward  resumption,  but  the  younger 
man's  mind  was  fascinated  with  the  economic  aspects  of 
the  problem,  and  half  a  dozen  years  later,  when  the  sub- 
ject again  pressed  for  settlement,  he  brought  forward  the 
act  which  placed  England  on  a  gold  basis.  The  father 
openly  bewailed  the  son's  misguided  course,  but  Peel's 
act  became  the  law  (1819). 

Before  he  was  thirty,  the  younger  Robert  Peel  had 
gained  a  valuable  experience  in  administrative  work  by  a 
term  of  six  years  (1812-1818)  as  Chief  Secretary  for 
Ireland.  Here,  as  in  the  preparation  of  his  studies  at 
Oxford  and  of  his  speeches  for  the  House  of  Commons, 
he  was  painstaking,  methodical,  thorough,  and  energetic. 
In  fact  he  applied  to  the  public  business  the  same  sterling 


no  Ten  Englishmen 

qualities  which  had  made  his  father  and  grandfather  suc- 
cessful merchants  and  manufacturers.  His  most  notable 
reform  in  Ireland,  which  was  then  in  a  sad  condition  of 
disorder,  was  the  replacement  of  military  rule  by  a  well- 
organized  civil  force  of  police,  acting  under  the  orders  of 
the  magistrates.  He  favored  a  more  liberal  scheme  of 
popular  education  for  the  unhappy  island,  but  his  Tory 
prejudices  stood  in  the  way  of  relieving  the  Catholics  of 
their  disabilities.  Because  of  his  avowed  opposition  to 
this  demand,  and  his  bitter  hostility  to  O'Connell,  the 
champion  of  the  cause,  Mr.  Peel — "Orange"  Peel,  as  the 
Catholic  Irish  nicknamed  him — had  the  satisfaction  of 
being  returned  to  Parliament  in  1817  for  the  University 
of  Oxford,  perhaps  the  most  ultra-Tory  constituency  in 
the  three  kingdoms. 

In  January,  1822,  Peel  entered  the  cabinet  of  Lord 
Liverpool  as  Home  Secretary.  From  the  first  he  showed 
that  his  mind  was  not  impenetrable  to  the  legal  reforms 
which  earnest  men  had  long  been  advocating,  but  to  which 
the  Tories  had  turned  a  deaf  ear.  The  reform  of  the 
criminal  law,  which  still  carried  the  harsh  statutes  of  an 
unquiet  age,  had  been  ably  championed  by  Romilly, 
Mackintosh,  and  others,  but  it  was  Peel's  way  first  to 
oppose,  then  to  admit  the  principle  of  the  reform,  and 
finally  to  enact  it  into  enduring  law.  On  his  initiative,  in 
1823,  "nearly  one  hundred  felonies  were  removed  from 
the  list  of  capital  crimes,  and  judges  were  empowered  to 
withhold  the  death  penalty  in  all  cases  except  murder, 
when  the  culprit  appeared  deserving  of  mercy."  Other 
acts  originating  with  him  consolidated  and  unified  the 
vast  and  complex  body  of  criminal  statutes  so  as  to  sim- 
plify procedure,  and  facilitate  the  ends  of  justice.  Some 


Peel  and  Administrative  Reforms        1 1 1 

conception  of  his  services  in  this  particular  may  be  gained 
from  the  fact  that  "he  secured  the  repeal  of  two  hundred 
and  seventy-eight  acts  relating  to  the  criminal  law, 
embodying  their  useful  provisions  in  eight  acts." 

On  Catholic  emancipation  Peel's  process  of  conversion 
was  slower.  He  steadily  fought  the  proposals  for  relief 
in  the  House  of  Commons  as  long  as  Lord  Liverpool 
lived,  and  when  Canning  succeeded  to  the  premiership 
(1827),  he  resigned  rather  than  serve  under  a  pro-Catho- 
lic chief.  When  the  Tories  came  back  to  power  under 
Wellington,  in  1828,  Peel  resumed  the  Home  Secretary- 
ship, with  the  leadership  of  the  House  of  Commons,  a 
position  for  which  he  possessed  incomparable  qualifica- 
tions. His  second  administration  of  the  home  department 
was  distinguished  by  a  series  of  radical  improvements  in 
the  criminal  laws.  One  law  for  the  punishment  of  offenses 
against  the  person  took  the  place  of  fifty-seven  existing 
acts.  In  1829  he  replaced  the.  ridiculous  London  watch 
with  the  police  force  which  has  served  as  a  model  for  many 
other  large  cities.  Many  who  speak  familiarly  of  the  blue- 
coated  guardians  of  the  peace  as  "Bobbies"  and  "Peelers" 
would  be  surprised  to  know  that  these  sobriquets  constitute 
a  popular  tribute  to  the  name  of  Robert  Peel,  the  creator 
of  the  model  force. 

These  legal  and  administrative  reforms,  beneficent  as 
they  were,  were  not  great  party  questions  like  the  two 
others  which  the  Wellington  government  had  to  face,  and 
gained  so  little  credit  in  the  facing.  The  Whigs,  under 
John  Russell,  urged  the  demand  for  the  relief  of  Protest- 
ant dissenters  from  their  political  disabilities  by  the  repeal 
of  the  Test  and  Corporation  Acts.  Peel  argued  against 
the  change,  but  it  was  carried,  nevertheless,  and  the 


ii2  Ten  Englishmen 

Tories  accepted  the  measure  with  the  best  grace  they 
could  summon.  Their  resistance  to  Catholic  emancipa- 
tion cost  them  more  dearly.  O'Connell,  master  of  all  the 
arts  of  agitation,  fanned  the  excitement  in  Ireland  into 
flame.  His  Catholic  Association  made  itself  heard,  and 
felt,  and  feared.  In  June,  1828,  a  member  of  the  govern- 
ment standing  for  election  for  County  Clare  was  soundly 
defeated  by  O'Connell  himself,  a  man  whom  the  anti- 
Catholic  laws  disqualified  from  sitting  in  Parliament.  The 
government  knew  not  which  way  to  turn,  and  O'Connell, 
perceiving  his  advantage,  lashed  his  followers  to  the  verge 
of  an  insurrection.  This  was  the  question  on  which 
George  III.  had  broken  with  William  Pitt  a  generation 
before,  and  now  it  was  only  by  the  most  vehement  argu- 
ments, and  even  by  threats  of  resignation,  that  the  minis- 
ters could  obtain  his  son's  consent  to  the  inevitable.  In 
a  speech  of  four  hours'  duration  Peel  explained  the  meas- 
ures to  the  House  of  Commons,  confessing  that  the 
necessity  under  which  he  acted  "was  the  severest  blow  it 
had  ever  been  his  lot  to  experience."  The  speech  was 
an  admission  of  defeat,  and  an  elaboration  of  the  meas- 
ures by  which  the  government,  in  the  hour  of  concession, 
proposed  to  limit  the  "dangerous  power  of  the  Roman 
Catholics."  The  bill  became  a  law,  and  the  Irish  Catholic 
members  began  to  sit  in  Parliament — with  some  of  the 
disturbing  consequences  which  no  one  foresaw  better  than 
Peel  himself. 

The  Wellington  ministry  barely  survived  the  strain  of 
carrying  Catholic  emancipation.  The  year  1830  found 
Sir  Robert  Peel — the  elder  baronet  having  died — the 
leader  of  the  opposition.  In  this  character  he  led  his 
party  against  the  Reform  Bills  of  1831-32.  Their  weak 


Peel  and  Administrative  Reforms 

points  were  mercilessly  laid  bare,  and  the  excellences  and 
past  glories  of  the  existing  system  were  effectively  dis- 
played. But  nothing  at  that  day  could  stop  the  progress 
of  reform,  as  the  King  and  peers  soon  learned. 

The  defeat  of  the  Tories  in  the  first  general  election 
under  the  Reform  Act  was  overwhelming.  They  mustered 
less  than  one-fourth  of  the  House  of  Commons.  It  seemed 
to  most  cool  political  observers  that  the  Whigs  who  now 
assumed  office  could  not  be  displaced  for  a  decade  at  least. 
The  spirit  of  change  was  alive  in  all  the  nations  of  west- 
ern Europe,  and  in  England  there  seemed  to  be  small  need 
of  a  political  party  whose  steady  resistance  to  innovation 
was  relieved  only  by  the  exceptions  in  which  the  party 
had  espoused  reform  in  extremity  to  save  its  own  exist- 
ence. Wellington  and  the  rigid  Tories  of  his  stripe  saw 
no  hope  for  their  party,  and  little  enough  for  England  in 
the  way  along  which  she  was  plunging.  Peel,  however, 
was  supremely  suited  to  the  times.  Bound  to  the  party 
of  Church  and  Crown  by  the  traditions  of  his  father,  he 
nevertheless  was  endowed  with  a  mind  which  was  not  quite 
dominated  by  prejudice.  The  study  of  facts,  the  exami- 
nation of  conflicting  claims,  the  weighing  of  argument, 
had  their  full  effect  upon  him,  and  he  had  the  courage  of 
his  convictions.  At  this  juncture,  when  so  much  was 
shifting  which  had  anchored  England  to  the  past,  Sir 
Robert  Peel,  with  his  clear-eyed  vision,  his  trained  judg- 
ment, his  honesty,  and  his  moderation,  formed  a  rallying 
point  for  those  Tories  who  had  no  other  leader,  and 
attracted  to  him  moderate  and  enlightened  men  of  what- 
ever party  who  feared  the  unbalanced  radicalism  of  the 
day,  and  who  were  bent  on  preserving  or  conserving  the 
best  elements  which  remained  of  the  ancient  Constitution 


1 14  Ten  Englishmen 

of  England.  From  such  accretions  grew  up  a  party  which 
gradually  dropped  the  name  of  Tory  and  adopted  that  of 
Conservative.  One  of  Peel's  biographers,  writing  of  this 
period  as  Peel's  opportunity,  says:  "Since  Conservatism, 
like  Liberalism,  is  an  imperishable  instinct  in  human 
nature,  every  society  must  contain  a  Conservative  party, 
and  such  a  party  speedily  develops,  even  amid  the  wildest 
storm  of  revolution.  The  Reform  Act  of  1832  had  made 
room  for  a  Conservative  party  suited  to  the  age.  The 
Tories  had  been  weak  because  their  strength  was  confined 
to  the  landed  interest.  Possessed  by  a  panic-dread  of 
change,  bred  by  the  events  of  the  French  Revolution,  they 
had  refused  to  admit  any  new  interests  to  a  share  of 
power.  In  their  despite  the  Reform  Act  had  transferred 
the  control  of  politics  from  the  aristocracy  to  the  middle 
class.  But  the  English  middle  class  was  naturally  Con- 
servative. It  was  orderly,  it  was  rich,  it  was  sensitive  to 
social  influence,  it  was  devout  and  serious  in  a  stiff, 
unbending  way.  Some  reforms  certainly  it  required;  an 
effective  administration  for  the  great  towns  where  it  lived 
and  traded;  the  amendment  of  a  poor  law  which  shocked 
all  its  economic  maxims;  the  abolition  of  negro  slavery 
which  revolted  its  religion;  the  abolition  of  laws  which, 
pressing  hardly  upon  non-conformists,  revolted  its  sense 
of  justice.  It  had  not  yet  declared  for  free  trade,  although 
it  might  be  expected  to  do  so.  The  ameliorations  which 
the  middle  class  at  this  time  desired,  Peel  was  ready  to 
approve,  and  these  ameliorations  once  granted,  the  middle 
class  would  tend  to  be  Conservative.  But  theirs  would 
not  be  the  conservatism  of  squires  and  rectors.  They 
would  incline  to  a  conservatism  of  their  own,  and  they 
would  want  a  leader  of  their  own  to  formulate  it  and  to 


Peel  and  Administrative  Reforms        1 1  5 

organize  them.  They  would  want  a  statesman  who  was 
bone  of  their  bone,  and  flesh  of  their  flesh;  a  good  man 
of  business,  cautious,  but  open  to  practical  suggestions, 
one  who  would  satisfy  their  ideal  of  industry  and  economy ; 
one  who  would  always  be  grave  and  decorous,  never  puzzle 
them  with  epigrams  or  alarm  them  with  rhetoric;  in  short, 
such  a  great  man  as  they  could  conceive.  Such  Sir 
Robert  Peel  was.  There  never  breathed  a  politician  more 
truly  congenial  to  them.  He  represented  their  virtues  and 
their  failings;  he  shared  their  talents  and  their  prejudices; 
he  was  always  growing  in  their  confidence;  and  when  he 
died  lamented  by  all  his  fellow-citizens,  he  was  most 
deeply  lamented  by  them." 

With  such  tact  and  such  mastery  of  the  political  situ- 
ation did  Peel  conduct  himself  in  the  years  of  opposition— 
now  mildly  criticising  the  government's  policy,  now  joining 
forces  with  it,  and  now  tearing  its  policies  to  pieces — that 
he  constantly  grew  in  the  national  esteem,  and  began  to  be 
looked  upon  as  the  inevitable  successor  of  the  Whigs. 
His  turn  came  sooner  than  any  one  expected,  in  Decem- 
ber, 1834.  It  was  too  soon,  in  fact,  for  the  first  Peel 
ministry  could  maintain  itself  but  a  few  months,  failing  to 
secure  a  majority  of  Parliament.  Yet  in  this  brief  lease 
of  power  Peel  gave  evidence  of  his  fitness  to  govern.  He 
undertook  the  reform  of  the  ecclesiastical  courts,  gratified 
the  Dissenters  by  proposing  to  remove  the  regulations 
which  required  all  marriages  to  be  celebrated  according  to 
the  rites  of  the  Established  Church.  He  even  addressed 
himself  to  the  delicate  question  of  settling  the  temporali- 
ties of  the  Established  Church  in  Ireland,  where  the 
collection  of  church  tithes  was  accompanied  with  much 
disorder  and  distress,  arising  from  the  fact  that  the  vast 


n6  Ten  Englishmen 

majority  of  the  tithe-payers  were  hostile  to  the  Protestant 
bishops  and  clergy  whom  they  were  taxed  to  support. 
The  opposition,  led  by  John  Russell,  took  advantage  of 
the  prejudices  surrounding  this  subject  and  forced  a  suc- 
cession of  adverse  votes,  in  consequence  of  which  the  Peel 
ministry  abandoned  office  in  April,  1835,  after  one  hun- 
dred days  of  power — a  period  sometimes  considered  the 
most  brilliant  in  Peel's  whole  career. 

For  six  years  Sir  Robert  Peel  remained  in  opposition, 
conducting  himself  so  sagaciously  as  to  gather  about  him 
all  disaffected  elements  of  the  disintegrating  majority. 
Peel  saw  to  it  that  whatever  popular  measures  of  reform 
were  carried  by  the  Melbourne  ministry  should  be  credited 
largely  to  Conservative  support.  Wellington  still  survived 
as  a  great  national  figure,  but  his  political  influence  was 
gone,  and  there  was  no  one  in  the  Whig  or  Liberal  camp 
who  could  dispute  Peel's  position  as  the  leading  public 
man  of  England.  Of  his  course  at  this  time  he  said  him- 
self (1838):  "My  object  is  that  by  steadily  attending  to 
our  duty,  by  censuring  the  government  on  all  occasions 
when  they  deserve  it,  enforcing  our  principles  by  aiding 
them  to  carry  those  measures  which  we  think  right,  even 
though  by  so  doing  we  may  be  rescuing  the  government, 
we  may  establish  new  claims  upon  the  approbation  of  the 
country." 

The  majority  of  the  House  of  Commons  was  made  up 
of  incongruous  elements,  whose  interests  were  at  variance 
on  many  questions.  Peel  actually  came  to  the  rescue  of 
the  ministers  not  once,  but  so  many  times  as  to  give  bitter- 
ness to  the  taunt  hurled  at  them  by  a  Radical  orator: 
"Why!  the  right  honorable  member  for  Tarn  worth  (Peel) 
governs  England.  The  honorable  and  learned  member 


Peel  and  Administrative  Reforms        117 

for  Dublin  (O'Connell)  governs  England.  The  Whigs 
govern  nothing  but  Downing  Street.  The  right  honorable 
member  for  Tamworth  is  contented  with  power  without 
place  or  patronage,  and  the  Whigs  are  contented  with 
place  and  patronage  without  power!" 

Hard  times  came  on  and  the  nation  faced  an  annual 
deficit.  Distress  was  widespread  among  the  people, 
nourishing  the  Chartist  agitation  on  the  one  hand,  and 
giving  point  to  the  arguments  of  the  Anti-Corn  Law  ora- 
tors on  the  other.  There  was  pressing  need  for  a  wise 
and  energetic  Prime  Minister,  and  hope  of  such  qualities 
in  Lord  Melbourne  had  long  since  failed.  The  general 
elections  of  1841  showed  a  clear  majority  for  the  Con- 
servatives, and  in  August  Sir  Robert  Peel  came  back  to 
power,  backed  by  a  consolidated  party  and  trusted  by  the 
nation. 

The  most  pressing  problems  were  financial.  Peel  pro- 
posed a  modification  of  the  Corn  Law  duties,  at  the  same 
time  defending  the  system  of  protection,  not  in  the  inter- 
ests of  the  agriculturist  class,  but  to  make  England 
independent  of  foreign  countries  for  its  food  supplies. 
His  proposals  were  enacted  into  law.  His  first  budget 
attempted  to  turn  the  customary  deficit  into  a  surplus  by 
means  of  an  income  tax  of  seven  pence  in  the  pound  on 
incomes  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  and  upward. 
His  revision  of  the  tariff  on  imports  introduced  important 
changes  looking  toward  increased  freedom  of  trade,  espe- 
cially in  the  raw  materials  of  manufacture.  The  times 
improved;  revenue  exceeded  expenditure;  consols  were 
quoted  at  only  a  fraction  below  par,  and  two  hundred  and 
fifty  million  pounds  of  the  national  debt  was  converted 
from  three  and  one-half  per  cent  into  a  loan  paying  three 


n8  Ten  Englishmen 

and  one-fourth  per  cent  for  ten  years  and  three  per  cent 
thereafter.  By  another  far-reaching  measure — the  Bank 
Charter  Act — Peel  placed  salutary  restrictions  upon  the 
issue  of  paper  money,  and  increased  his  reputation  as  a 
master  of  financial  legislation. 

From  year  to  year,  as  the  surplus  revenue  increased, 
the  government  employed  it  tc  cut  down  the  duties  upon 
imports.  From  wool,  cotton,  and  glass,  and  many  minor 
items  they  were  entirely  removed,  and  there  were  reduc- 
tions throughout  the  schedules.  The  grants  in  aid  of 
education  were  trebled  in  the  face  of  bitter  protest  from 
his  own  party.  Education  in  Ireland  was  aided  by  grants 
to  the  Catholic  College  at  Maynooth  and  by  the  establish- 
ment of  other  "Queen's  colleges"  in  affiliation  with  the 
university  at  Dublin. 

In  one  way  and  another  Ireland  played  a  great  part  in 
the  history  of  this  administration.  In  1843  tne  agitation 
of  O'Connell,  for  the  repeal  of  the  union  of  Ireland  with 
England,  culminated  in  immense  and  angry  meetings 
which  threatened  the  public  peace.  The  government  then 
took  the  matter  in  hand,  "proclaimed"  the  gatherings  and 
arrested  O'Connell.  It  was  the  failure  of  the  potato  crop 
of  1845,  and  the  consequent  Irish  famine  which  forced 
Peel  to  abandon  the  last  stronghold  of  protection  and 
recommend  the  total  and  absolute  repeal  forever  of  all 
duties  on  all  articles  of  subsistence.  The  history  of  the 
repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws,  in  1846,  has  already  been  given. 
On  the  day  on  which  the  bill  passed  to  its  third  reading 
in  the  House  of  Lords,  all  the  enemies  of  the  government, 
led  by  Tory  protectionists  who  considered  themselves 
betrayed  by  their  own  Prime  Minister  combined  to  over- 
throw him.  On  a  bill  for  the  protection  of  life  in  Ireland 


Peel  and  Administrative  Reforms        1 1 9 

Peel  was  defeated  by  seventy-three  votes.  Four  days 
later,  on  relinquishing  his  place  at  the  head  of  the  govern- 
ment he  pronounced  his  memorable  valedictory.  He 
should  leave  a  name,  he  said,  severely  censured  by 
many  who  deeply  regretted  the  severance  of  party  ties, 
censured  also  by  all  sincere  protectionists.  "I  shall  leave 
a  name  execrated  by  every  monopolist  who,  from  less 
honorable  motives,  clamors  for  protection  because  it  con- 
duces to  his  own  individual  benefit.  But  it  may  be  that  I 
shall  leave  a  name  sometimes  remembered  with  expres- 
sions of  good  will  in  the  abodes  of  those  whose  lot  it  is  to 
labor  and  to  earn  their  daily  bread  by  the  sweat  of  their 
brow,  when  they  shall  recruit  their  exhausted  strength 
with  abundant  and  untaxed  food,  the  sweeter  because  it  is 
no  longer  leavened  by  a  sense  of  injustice." 

Peel  never  returned  to  office.  His  conversion  to  free 
trade  had  split  his  party,  and  the  Whigs,  under  John 
Russell,  succeeded  to  the  direction  of  affairs.  He  re- 
mained in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  with  such  personal 
following  as  yet  remained  to  him,  supported  the  adminis- 
tration. The  protectionists  were  rallied  and  led  by 
George  Bentinck  and  Benjamin  Disraeli,  whose  star 
waxed  as  Peel's  began  to  wane.  Death  put  a  sudden 
end  to  his  activity.  He  was  thrown  from  his  horse 
while  riding  up  Constitution  Hill  in  London,  and  died 
on  the  second  of  July,  1850.  In  accordance  with  his 
expressed  wish,  his  family  declined  the  honors  of  a 
public  funeral,  and  he  was  buried  without  ostentation  in 
the  family  tomb  at  Drayton  Bassett.  His  statue,  voted 
by  the  House  of  Commons,  was  placed  in  Westminster 
Abbey. 

The  Duke  of  Wellington,  in  his  simple  way,  said  of 


I2O  Ten  Englishmen 

his  late  associate:  "I  never  knew  a  man  in  whose  truth 
and  justice  I  had  a  more  lively  confidence,  or  in  whom  I 
saw  a  more  invariable  desire  to  promote  the  public  ser- 
vice. In  the  whole  course  of  my  communication  with 
him  I  never  knew  an  instance  in  which  he  did  not  show 
the  strongest  attachment  to  truth;  and  I  never  saw  in  the 
whole  course  of  my  life  the  smallest  reason  for  suspecting 
that  he  stated  anything  which  he  did  not  firmly  believe  to 
be  the  fact."  Remarkable  testimony  this,  concerning  a 
great  politician.  From  Disraeli,  who  would  perhaps  be 
less  drawn  to  this  qualification  of  a  statesman,  comes  this 
word  of  praise,  with  many  of  detraction:  "Nature  had 
combined  in  Sir  Robert  Peel  many  admirable  parts.  In 
him  a  physical  frame  incapable  of  fatigue  was  united  with 
an  understanding  equally  vigorous  and  flexible.  He  was 
gifted  with  the  faculty  of  method  in  the  highest  degree, 
and  with  great  powers  of  application,  which  were  sustained 
by  a  prodigious  memory,  while  he  could  communicate  his 
acquisitions  with  clear  and  fluent  elocution.  Such  a  man 
under  any  circumstances  and  in  any  sphere  of  life  would 
probably  have  become  remarkable.  Ordained  from  his 
youth  to  be  busied  with  the  affairs  of  a  great  empire,  such 
a  man,  after  long  years  of  observation,  practice,  and  per- 
petual discipline,  would  have  become  what  Sir  Robert  Peel 
was  in  the  latter  portion  of  his  life — a  transcendent 
administrator  of  public  business  and  a  matchless  master  of 
debate  in  a  popular  assembly." 

The  masterly  debater  never  rose  to  heights  of  elo- 
quence. His  thorough  and  practical  mind  enabled  him  to 
study,  sift,  and  give  form  and  substance  to  the  broad 
political  and  economic  conceptions  of  more  idealistic 
men.  Inheriting  the  narrow  political  creed  of  his  father, 


Peel  and  Administrative  Reforms         1 2 1 

he  can  scarcely  be  blamed  if  his  mind  came  slowly  to 
advanced  positions.  Rather  shall  he  not  be  commended 
who,  with  such  prepossessions  and  prejudices,  and  with 
such  party  co-workers,  keeps  his  mind  open  to  corviction? 
"The  resumption  of  cash  payments,  the  amendment  of 
the  criminal  law,  the  institution  of  the  Irish  constabulary 
and  the  London  police,  Catholic  emancipation  and  the 
emancipation  of  trade,  and  a  host  of  reforms  only  less 
beneficial  than  these  make  up  a  record  of  useful  labor 
which  has  seldom  been  surpassed." 

QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW 

1.  What   unusual   preparation  had    Peel    for  his    public 
career  ? 

2.  Upon  what  political  question  did  he  and  his  father  sep- 
arate ? 

3.  Describe  his  relations  to  Ireland  as  Chief  Secretary. 

4.  What  services  did  he  render  to  criminal  law  ? 

5.  What  police  reform  is  due  to  him  ? 

6.  What  two  famous  party  questions  did  he  resist,  but 
finally  of  necessity  accept  ? 

7.  Why  was  Peel  especially  fitted  to  lead  the  new  Con- 
servative party,  formed  after  1832  ? 

8.  What  fitness  to  govern  did  Peel  show  in  his  first  ministry  ? 

9.  How  did   he   serve  his   country  as  a  member  of  the 
opposition  ? 

10.  How  did  he  meet  the  financial  needs  of  England  in  his 
second  ministry  ? 

1 1.  How  did  his  enemies  finally  overthrow  him  ? 

12.  Why  is  Peel's  life,  in  view  of  his  inheritance,  especially 
worthy  of  honor  ? 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Sir  Robert  Peel.    J.  R.  Thursfield. 
Sir  Robert  Peel.    Justin  McCarthy. 
Biographical  Studies.    Walter  Bagehot. 


VIII 

SHAFTESBURY  AND   PHILANTHROPY 

[ANTONY  ASHLEY  COOPER,  Seventh  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  born 
April  28,  1801;  died  October  i,  1885;  educated  at  Harrow 
and  Christ  Church,  Oxford  (first-class  in  classics,  1822); 
Member  of  Parliament  1826;  bore  a  leading  hand  in  legisla- 
tion for  improving  condition  of  laboring  classes;  President 
of  Ragged  School  Union,  etc.;  succeeded  to  the  earldom  on 
the  death  of  his  father,  in  1851.] 

The  industrial  expansion  of  England  in  the  nineteenth 
century  was  not  a  blessing  unalloyed.  It  built  great  cities 
and  created  enormous  wealth,  and  gave  employment  at 
advanced  wages  to  a  vastly  increased  population.  But  it 
brought  with  it  changes  in  the  social  condition  of  the 
laboring  classes  which  were  productive  of  severe  hardship. 

The  England  of  the  olden  time  had  been  an  agricultural 
country  whose  laborers,  though  poorly  paid,  either  worked 
under  mild  conditions  in  the  fields,  or  followed  their  trades 
in  their  cottages  and  workshops.  The  introduction  of  the 
steam  engine  brought  with  it  a  demand  for  fuel  which 
forced  thousands  of  men,  women,  and  children  to  delve  in 
the  mines,  and  the  use  of  machines  and  the  adoption  of 
the  factory  system  shut  up  other  thousands  of  both  sexes, 
and  all  ages,  to  labor  for  excessive  hours  in  crowded  cities 
under  unsanitary  conditions.  At  the  present  time  the 
system  of  legislation  regarding  the  employment  of  women 
and  minors,  and  the  regulation  of  unsanitary  conditions  of 


Shaftesbury  and  Philanthropy  123 

labor  is  so  thorough  that  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  that  it 
has  all  been  of  recent  growth.  When  the  enemies  of  the 
abuses  in  mine  and  factory  first  raised  their  voices  in  the 
British  Parliament,  they  were  even  told  that  such  things 
were  not  proper  subjects  of  legislation.  In  the  opening 
years  of  the  century  the  elder  Robert  Peel  had  attacked 
one  of  the  foulest  of  industrial  abuses — the  "apprentice 
system."  Under  this  system  the  pauper  children  of  Lon- 
don and  the  south  of  England  were  rented  out  to  the 
tender  mercies  of  the  avaricious  cotton  manufacturers  of 
the  north.  From  the  age  of  seven  they  were  compelled 
to  work  in  the  mills  at  long  hours,  under  unhealthful  con- 
ditions, and  without  opportunity  of  education  or  proper 
recreation.  When  not  at  work  they  were  huddled  in  com- 
fortless barracks  little  better  than  slave-pens.  No  wonder 
they  grew  up  to  be  hopeless  and  brutalized,  if  they  were 
so  unfortunate  as  to  survive  the  arduous  period  of  their 
industrial  bondage — for  it  was  no  less  than  that.  Peel's 
act  of  1802,  and  other  remedial  legislation  which  supple- 
mented it,  did  away  with  the  worst  features  of  this  white 
slavery,  but  the  general  condition  of  the  women  and  chil- 
dren in  the  English  factories  and  mines  continued  to  be 
such  as  to  move  deeply  the  sympathies  of  the  humane. 

In  the  year  1833  the  little  group  of  humanitarian  lead- 
ers who  had  succeeded  in  turning  the  attention  of  the 
nation  to  the  disgraceful  condition  of  child  labor,  were 
striving  to  get  a  hearing  in  the  House  of  Commons  for 
their  "short  time"  proposal — a  law  framed  by  Michael 
Thomas  Sadler,  for  the  purpose  of  limiting  the  hours  of 
child  labor  in  textile  factories  to  ten  hours  a  day.  Sadler 
had  lost  his  seat  in  Parliament,  and  a  new  spokesman  was 
needed  for  the  cause.  The  committee  ventured  to  ask 


124  Ten  Englishmen 

Lord  Ashley  to  take  charge  of  the  bill,  and  his  accept- 
ance enlisted  in  the  humanitarian  movement  a  young 
man  who  was  destined  to  be  its  champion  for  half  a 
century. 

Antony  Ashley  Cooper,  then  sitting  in  the  House  of 
Commons  under  the  name  of  Lord  Ashley,  and  after 
1851  known  to  the  world  as  the  seventh  Earl  of  Shaftes- 
bury,  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable  Englishmen  of  the 
century.  This  new-found  champion  of  the  working- 
classes  was  born  in  London,  April  28,  1801.  His  father 
was  the  sixth  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  and  his  mother  was  a 
daughter  of  the  third  Earl  of  Marlborough.  The  father's 
preoccupation  in  public  life  and  his  mother's  social  duties 
left  the  early  home  training  of  the  lad  to  a  pious  domestic, 
an  earnest  Christian,  whose  precepts  and  example  did 
more  than  anything  else  to  give  bent  to  his  life.  In  later 
years  the  Earl  freely  owned  his  mother's  housekeeper  to  be 
the  best  friend  he  had  ever  had.  He  did  little  to  distin- 
guish himself  as  a  schoolboy  at  Harrow,  but  Oxford 
appealed  to  him,  and  he  applied  himself  to  classical  studies 
at  the  university  with  a  zeal  which  won  for  him  a  degree 
with  the  first  honors. 

Parliament  was  the  natural  place  for  a  peer's  son  in 
those  days  of  pocket  boroughs,  and  into  the  House  of 
Commons  he  went  as  Lord  Ashley  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
five.  In  his  diary  he  recorded  his  devout  purpose  to  use 
his  position  "for  the  success  of  religion  and  true  happi- 
ness," and  on  taking  the  oaths  he  "breathed  a  slight 
prayer  for  assistance  in  thoughts  and  deeds."  A  man  of 
profound  introspection,  intense  religious  feeling,  and  sin- 
cere purpose  to  be  of  service  to  his  kind,  had  some  diffi- 
culty in  adjusting  himself  to  the  selfish  politics  of  the 


Shaftesbury  and  Philanthropy  125 

House.  The  first  subject  upon  which  he  found  voice  was 
the  reform  of  the  laws  for  the  care  of  lunatic  paupers,  a 
class  whose  pitiable  state  might  have  moved  the  most 
stolid  heart.  To  this  merciful  project  he  addressed  him- 
self with  a  zeal  and  persistency  which  were  to  characterize 
his  later  efforts  for  other  downtrodden  classes. 

When  the  labor  leaders  turned  to  him,  in  1833,  to 
champion  their  cause,  he  took  the  question  into  consider- 
ation over  night,  obtained  his  wife's  cordial  approval, 
consulted  his  Bible,  resorted  to  prayer,  and  the  next  day 
gave  himself  unreservedly  to  the  cause.  His  friends  of 
the  aristocratic  families  shunned  him,  his  parents  dis- 
countenanced his  design  and  closed  their  doors  against 
him  for  many  years,  but,  said  he,  in  dedication  of  him- 
self to  the  work,  "I  believe  it  is  my  duty  to  God  and  to 
the  poor,  and  I  trust  He  will  support  me." 

The  manufacturers  sought  to  side-track  the  Ten-Hours 
Bill  by  proposing  that  nothing  should  be  done  until  a 
committee  of  Parliament  should  make  thorough  inquiry 
into  the  alleged  conditions  in  the  mills.  But  the  very 
commission  which  they  asked  for  could  not  go  against 
the  evidence  of  their  own  eyes  in  the  factory  towns,  swarm- 
ing with  ignorant,  ragged  child-operatives,  prematurely 
old.  The  commission  reported:  (i)  that  the  work  hours 
of  children  and  adults  were  the  same;  (2)  that  such  labor 
was  resulting  in  the  permanent  physical  and  intellectual 
deterioration  of  the  young;  (3)  that  these  maltreated 
children  were  not  free  agents,  but  hired  out  by  parents  or 
guardians;  and  finally,  "that  a  case  was  made  out  for  the 
interference  of  the  legislature  on  behalf  of  the  children 
employed  in  factories." 

In  place  of  the  radical  measure  of  Lord  Ashley  the 


1 26  Ten  Englishmen 

government  carried  a  substitute,  the  Factory  Law  of 
1833.  "Night  work  was  prohibited  to  persons  under 
eight  even  in  cotton,  wool,  worsted,  hemp,  flax,  tow,  and 
linen  spinneries  and  weaving  mills;  children  from  nine  to 
thirteen  were  not  allowed  to  work  more  than  forty-eight 
hours  a  week,  and  young  persons  thirteen  to  eighteen  were 
restricted  to  sixty-eight  hours  a  week.  In  silk  factories 
children  might  be  admitted  under  nine,  and  childen  under 
thirteen  were  to  be  allowed  ten  hours  a  day.  Provision 
was  made  for  a  certain  amount  of  school  attendance,  and 
factory  inspectors  were  provided  to  inquire  into  violations 
of  the  statute."  At  the  time  Ashley  and  his  friends 
bewailed  the  passage  of  the  Factory  Act  as  a  defeat, 
though  the  former  eventually  admitted  that  "it  contained 
some  humane  and  highly  useful  provisions,  and  established 
for  the  first  time  the  great  principle  that  labor  and  educa- 
tion should  be  combined." 

Defeat,  if  that  be  a  defeat,  which  forces  your  foe  to 
adopt  your  own  principles  in  order  to  win,  only  proved 
Lord  Ashley's  superior  fitness  for  the  leadership  of  the 
cause.  Instead  of  abandoning  the  contest  he  began  to 
prepare  for  a  fresh  assault  by  collecting  information 
touching  every  part  of  the  question.  He  visited  the  work- 
rooms and  lodgings  of  the  operatives  in  every  part  of  the 
land,  examining  at  first  hand  their  condition,  and  studying 
the  problem  in  all  its  bearings  with  the  same  persistency 
and  intellectual  force  which  had  won  him  his  "first-class" 
at  the  university.  Nothing  which  could  subserve  his 
cause  escaped  his  searching  inquiry,  and  when  he  arose  to 
address  Parliament  his  mastery  of  his  subject  was  so  com- 
plete as  to  baffle  the  skill  of  the  few  who  durst  ask  him 
questions. 


Shaftesbury  and  Philanthropy  127 

As  the  Anti-Corn  Law  gained  ground  the  labor  reform- 
ers met  with  a  new  form  of  opposition.  Lord  Ashley 
was  taunted  with  inconsistency  in  seeking  the  welfare  of 
the  factory  workers,  while  neglecting  to  remedy  the  no  less 
servile  condition  of  the  agricultural  laborers.  Manufac- 
turers as  high-minded  as  Cobden  and  Bright  did  not 
scruple  to  say — as  doubtless  they  believed — that  the  out- 
cry against  the  manufacturers  sprang  from  the  desire  of 
the  landowners  to  harass  the  opponents  of  "the  tax  on 
bread."  John  Bright  answered  Lord  Ashley's  arguments 
for  the  ten  hours'  clause  in  the  bill  of  1844  in  a  speech  as 
vindictive  as  it  was  eloquent.  Though  Ashley  was  again 
defeated,  at  this  time  the  new  Factory  Act,  which  was 
passed,  carried  farther  the  principles  of  the  original  law. 
In  1845  his  calico  print-works  measure  brought  relief  to 
thousands  of  weary  little  hands,  and  in  1847  tne  long- 
worked-for  and  earnestly  prayed-for  Ten-Hours  Bill 
became  a  law.  Lord  Ashley  had  resigned  his  seat  in 
Parliament,  but  had  not  relaxed  his  efforts  in  behalf  of 
the  bill  which  he  had  borne  on  his  heart  for  fourteen 
years.  When  the  news  came  that  the  bill,  after  going 
through  the  Commons  with  flying  colors,  had  passed  the 
critical  stage  in  the  Upper  House,  Lord  Ashley's  feelings 
found  vent  in  this  entry  in  his  journal:  "I  am  humbled 
that  my  heart  is  not  bursting  with  thankfulness  to 
Almighty  God — that  I  can  find  breath  and  sense  to  ex- 
press my  joy.  What  reward  shall  we  give  unto  the  Lord 
for  all  the  benefits  he  hath  conferred  upon  us?  God,  in 
his  mercy,  prosper  the  work  and  grant  that  these  opera- 
tives may  receive  the  cup  of  salvation,  and  call  upon  the 
name  of  the  Lord!  Praised  be  the  Lord!  Praised  be 
the  Lord  in  Christ  Jesus!"  The  operatives  received  the 


128  Ten  Englishmen 

news  with  tumultuous  joy,  for  the  act  brought  substantial 
relief  to  fully  three  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  persons, 
more  than  two-thirds  of  all  the  operatives  then  employed 
in  the  textile  industries  of  the  kingdom. 

The  manufacturers  who  attributed  Ashley's  professions 
of  friendship  for  their  employees  to  his  class  hatred  of  their 
masters  little  knew  the  man.  His  sympathies  were 
engaged  in  behalf  of  the  poor  and  weak  in  every  calling, 
and  the  mill-hands  were  only  the  first  whose  cause  he 
championed.  The  manufacturers  had  sometimes  sought 
to  divert  attention  from  their  own  shortcomings  by  point- 
ing to  the  greater  hardship  of  the  colliery  workers,  and  in 
1840  Lord  Ashley  took  up  this  subject  by  moving  for  a 
parliamentary  commission  to  inquire  into  the  employment 
of  the  children  of  the  poorer  classes  in  mines  and  collier- 
ies. The  first  report  of  this  commission,  issued  in  1842, 
is  one  of  the  most  appalling  of  public  documents.  Sworn 
testimony  was  presented  to  show  that  much  of  the  under- 
ground labor  was  performed  by  children  under  thirteen 
years  of  age,  and  that  little  boys  and  girls  were  set  to 
work  in  the  dark  and  noisome  tunnels  at  the  age  of  five. 
First  as  "trappers"  these  child  laborers  opened  and  shut 
the  trap-doors  in  the  passages  of  the  mine.  The  stronger 
children,  boys  and  girls  alike,  dragged  and  pushed  the 
little  coal  wagons  along  the  narrow  passages — the  roofs 
too  low  for  them  to  stand  upright,  often  so  low  as  to 
compel  them  to  creep  on  all-fours  in  the  black  slime  of 
the  floors.  Some  with  laden  baskets  on  their  backs 
climbed  many  times  a  day  up  steep  ascents.  Some  stood 
ankle-deep  in  water  from  morning  till  night  in  the 
depths  of  the  pit,  wearing  out  their  little  lives  at  the  hand- 
pumps. 


Shaftesbury  and  Philanthropy  129 

"The  young  lambs  are  bleating  in  the  meadows, 

The  young  birds  are  chirping  in  the  nest; 
The  young  fawns  are  playing  with  the  shadows, 

The  young  flowers  are  blowing  toward  the  west. 
But  the  young,  young  children,  O  my  brothers, 

They  are  weeping  bitterly  ! 
They  are  weeping  in  the  playtime  of  the  others, 

In  the  country  of  the  free." 

So  sang  Elizabeth  Barrett  of  the  sorrows  of  the  children 
of  the  mines  and  mills  in  those  dismal  days,  and  it  must 
be  said  for  the  great  heart  of  England  that  its  beat  was 
still  true.  The  coal-owners  made  the  pitiful  plea  in 
extenuation  of  all  the  misery  and  indecency  of  the  mines 
that  without  the  labor  of  women  and  children  the  collieries 
must  shut  down,  not  only  for  lack  of  profit,  but  for  the 
cogent  reason  that  the  flexible  vertebrae  of  childhood 
were  especially  adapted  to  the  constrained  positions 
required  in  the  tunnels,  and  that  there  could  be  no  good 
colliers  unless  as  children  they  became  inured  to  the  priva- 
tions and  hardships  of  the  life.  The  government  tried  to 
keep  the  report  out  of  the  hands  of  the  indignant  public, 
but  "by  a  most  providential  mistake,"  as  Lord  Ashley 
believed,  it  got  into  circulation,  to  the  horror  and  disgust 
of  all  right-minded  persons.  The  press  joined  in  the  cry 
for  remedial  legislation.  Ashley's  speech  in  support  of 
his  Mines  and  Collieries  Bill  made  an  unusual  impression 
in  the  House  of  Commons.  Even  Cobden,  who  had  been 
ready  to  sneer  at  the  "philanthropists"  who  opposed  the 
repeal  of  the  tax  on  bread,  came  over  to  the  orator's  side 
at  the  conclusion  of  his  two  hours'  plea,  and  wringing  his 
hand  heartily,  declared,  "I  don't  think  I  have  ever  been 
put  into  such  a  frame  of  mind  in  all  my  life."  From  this 
time  he  no  longer  entertained  doubts  of  Ashley's  sincerity. 


Ten  Englishmen 

The  Queen  and  Prince  Albert  added  their  personal  sup- 
port. The  government  threw  obstacles  in  the  way  of  the 
bill,  and  the  peers  mutilated  it,  but  Ashley's  persistency 
carried  it  at  last.  Henceforth  women  and  girls  and  boys 
under  ten  were  excluded  from  underground  work,  and  a 
system  of  mine  inspection  was  established  to  secure  the 
observance  of  the  law.  Such  a  triumph  for  morality  and 
humanity  was  worth  more  to  England  than  many  battles 
won  by  force  of  arms. 

There  has  been  no  retreat  from  the  positions  to  which 
Lord  Ashley  carried  the  legislative  protection  of  the 
working-classes.  From  time  to  time  the  Factory  Laws 
were  extended  to  cover  the  special  demands  of  other 
industries,  until  the  state  had  literally  taken  under  its 
protection  the  whole  class  of  children  and  young  persons 
employed  in  manufacturing  industries.  It  has  done  this 
in  the  name  of  the  moral  and  physical  health  of  the  com- 
munity. The  general  laws  governing  factories  and  work- 
shops now  cover  a  very  wide  scope.  It  is  required  that 
the  building  must  be  kept  clean  and  sanitary;  that 
dangerous  machinery  must  be  boxed  and  fenced;  the  hours 
of  labor  and  meal-time  for  women  and  children  are  fixed, 
and  children  under  ten  may  not  be  employed;  certain 
holidays  and  half-holidays  must  be  allowed  to  all  "pro- 
tected" persons;  child- workers  must  go  to  school  a  certain 
proportion  of  the  week;  medical  certificates  of  fitness  for 
employment  are  required  in  the  case  of  children;  and 
notice  of  accidents  causing  loss  of  life  or  bodily  injury 
must  be  sent  to  the  government  inspector.  Many 
co-operated  to  bring  about  these  results,  but  the  chief 
advocate  of  all  the  beneficent  reforms  which  have  rein- 
vigorated  the  English  working-classes,  saved  the  women 


Shaftesbury  and  Philanthropy  131 

from  slavish  toil  and  given  them  opportunity  to  make 
homes  for  their  families,  rescued  the  children  from 
benumbing  toil,  and  given  them  time  for  healthful  recrea- 
tion and  mental  improvement,  is,  by  the  common  award  of 
all,  this  simple-hearted  Christian,  Antony  Ashley  Cooper. 

On  the  fly-leaf  of  a  book  in  his  library  the  Earl  of 
Shaftesbury  noted  in  pencil  some  of  the  obstacles  which 
beset  his  progress  when  seeking  the  good  of  the  distressed 
children:  "I  had  to  break  every  political  connection,  to 
encounter  a  most  formidable  array  of  capitalists,  mill- 
owners,  doctrinaries,  and  men  who  by  natural  impulse 
hate  all  'humanity  mongers'  (tell  it  not  in  Gath!)  among 
the  Radicals,  the  Irishmen,  and  a  few  sincere  Whigs  and 

Conservatives Peel  was  hostile Fielden 

and  Brotherton  were  the  only  'practical'  men  who  sup- 
ported me,  and  to  practical  prophecies  of  overthrow  of 
trade,  of  ruin  to  the  operatives  themselves,  I  could  only 
oppose  'humanity'  and  general  principles.  The  news- 
papers were  on  the  whole  friendly.  Out  of  Parliament 
there  was  in  society  every  form  of  'good-natured'  and 

compassionate  contempt In  few  instances  did  any 

mill-owner  appear  on  a  platform  with  me;  in  still  fewer 
the  ministers  of  any  religious  denomination — so  cowed 
were  they  (or  in  themselves  so  indifferent)  by  the  over- 
whelming influence  of  the  cotton-lords." 

Among  his  opponents  Shaftesbury  reckoned  Peel,  who 
continually  sought  to  silence  him  by  giving  him  govern- 
ment offices;  Bright,  whose  malignant  opposition  has 
already  been  noticed;  Cobden,  though  latterly  a  convert; 
O'Connell,  Brougham,  and  even  Gladstone,  "the  only 
member  who  voted  to  delay  the  bill  which  delivered  women 
and  children  from  the  mines  and  pits." 


132  Ten  Englishmen 

It  is  foreign  to  the  purpose  of  this  sketch  to  pursue  the 
later  labors  of  Lord  Shaftesbury;  his  zeal  for  education; 
his  warm  espousal  of  the  cause  of  ragged  schools  for  the 
instruction  of  the  waifs  of  the  London  streets;  his  suc- 
cessful agitation  in  favor  of  the  pitiable  chimney-sweeps; 
in  short,  his  support  of  every  cause  which  appealed  to  his 
sympathy  for  the  neglected  classes,  or  which  promised  to 
benefit  humanity  physically,  morally,  intellectually,  or 
spiritually.  He  was  the  president  of  scores  of  organiza- 
tions devoted  to  Christian  and  philanthropic  work,  and 
until  the  close  of  his  long  and  useful  life,  his  voice  and 
influence  could  always  be  counted  on  to  assist  such  worthy 
causes.  As  his  end  approached  his  only  regret  was  "I 
cannot  bear  to  leave  the  world  with  all  the  misery  in  it." 
The  Dean  of  Westminster's  suggestion  that  the  Abbey 
should  be  his  last  resting-place,  he  brushed  aside  in  favor 
of  the  parish  church  of  St.  Giles,  where  his  boyhood 
had  been  passed.  He  died  on  the  1st  of  October,  1885, 
at  Folkestone,  where  he  had  been  taken  for  the  invigorat- 
ing sea  breezes.  Perhaps  the  old  Abbey  Church  of  West- 
minster never  saw  a  funeral  where  so  many  classes  of 
English  society  gathered  to  pay  respect  to  a  dead  earl. 
Costermongers,  climbing-boys,  boot-blacks,  cripples, 
flower-girls  sat  with  royalty,  bishops,  peers,  and  com- 
moners in  sincere  mourning  for  a  nobleman  who  was 
indeed  a  noble  man. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW 

1.  What  social  changes  accompanied  the  industrial  expan- 
sion of  England  ? 

2.  What  was  the  "  apprentice  system  "  ? 

3.  Under  what  influences  did  Lord  Ashley  pass  his  child- 
hood and  youth  ? 


Shaftesbury  and  Philanthropy  133 

4.  How  was  the  Factory  Law  of  1833  secured,  and  what  did 
it  require  ? 

5.  How  did  Lord  Ashley  prepare  for  a  new  Factory  Act  ? 

6.  What  opposition  did  he  meet  from  the  Anti-Corn  Law 
workers  ? 

7.  How  was  the  passage  of  the  "  Ten-Hours  Bill  "  in  1847 
received  ? 

8.  What  conditions  were  revealed  by  the  report  on  mines 
and  collieries  ? 

9.  Describe  the  events  which  led  to  the  passage  of  Ash- 
ley's bill  ? 

10.  What  factory  laws  have  since  been  enacted  ? 

11.  What  various  kinds  of  opposition  did  Shaftesbury  meet 
in  his  efforts  for  reform  ? 

12.  To  what  other  needy  causes  did  he  devote  the  remain- 
ing years  of  his  life  ? 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Life  and  Work  of  Lord  Shaftesbury.     Edwin  Hodder. 
History  of  the  Factory  Movement.    Alfred. 


IX 

LORD     PALMERSTON    AND    FOREIGN    RELATIONS 

[HENRY  JOHN  TEMPLE,  Viscount  Palmerston,  born  October  20, 
1784,  near  Romsey,  Hampshire;  died  October  18,  1865, 
Brocket  Hall;  succeeded  to  the  title  and  the  Irish  peerage 
in  1802;  educated  at  Harrow  and  Cambridge;  Member  of 
Parliament,  1807;  at  once  made  a  Junior  Lord  of  the  Ad- 
miralty; 1809-1828,  Secretary  at  War;  about  1830  joined 
Whig  party;  1830-41,  1846-51,  Secretary  for  Foreign  Affairs; 
1852-55,  Home  Secretary;  1855-58,  1859-65,  Prime  Minister 
and  First  Lord  of  the  Treasury.  Buried  in  Westminster 
Abbey.] 

The  Peace  is  the  accepted  name  for  the  condition  which 
succeeded  in  England  the  generation  which  had  been  spent 
in  the  wars  with  France  and  the  first  Napoleon.  For 
forty  years  after  the  Battle  of  Waterloo  (1815),  this  con- 
dition was  unruffled  by  actual  hostilities  between  England 
and  any  European  power,  unless  that  "untoward  event" 
the  Battle  of  Navarino  (1827)  and  the  bombardment  of 
Antwerp  (1832)  should  be  so  considered.  Petty  wars 
with  the  native  princes  of  India  and  on  the  Afghan  fron- 
tier occurred  from  time  to  time,  it  is  true,  and  the  infa- 
mous Opium  War  was  waged  against  China  (1839-42), 
but  until  the  Crimean  Campaigns  (1853-56)  and  the 
Indian  Mutiny  (1857)  the  war  spirit  of  the  nation  was 
never  stirred  to  its  depths.  Continental  Europe  during 
these  years  passed  through  many  convulsions.  Bloody 
revolutions  shook  many  states,  and  Prussia,  Austria, 


Lord  Palmerston  and  Foreign  Relations      135 

Denmark,  Turkey,  and  Italy  were  involved  in  wars.  The 
hand  that  piloted  England  among  the  rocks  of  the  tortuous 
channel  of  foreign  politics  for  nearly  a  generation  was 
that  of  Lord  Palmerston,  for  nearly  twenty  years  Foreign 
Secretary  and  twice  Prime  Minister  of  the  Queen's  gov- 
ernment. 

Henry  John  Temple  was  the  descendant  of  an  historic 
English  family,  and  was  born  on  the  Temple  estates  at 
Broadlands  in  Hampshire,  October  20,  1784.  He  was, 
therefore,  four  years  older  than  Sir  Robert  Peel,  whom  he 
long  survived,  and  twelve  years  the  senior  of  his  sometime 
colleague,  Lord  John  Russell.  From  Harrow,  where  he 
was  reckoned  the  jolliest  boy  in  the  school,  and  the  plucki- 
est fighter,  he  was  sent  to  Edinburgh  in  charge  of  Dugald 
Stewart,  one  of  the  great  Scottish  teachers  of  the  time, 
and  thence,  after  three  years  under  exceptional  educative 
influences,  to  Cambridge.  His  father's  death  had  given 
him  the  title  of  Viscount  Palmerston  in  the  Irish  peerage, 
and  before  receiving  his  degree,  his  ambition  led  him  to 
offer  himself  to  the  university  as  its  candidate  for  the 
House  of  Commons.  Though  rejected  there,  a  pocket 
borough  was  provided  for  him,  and  in  1807,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-three,  he  took  his  seat  as  a  member  for  Newtown, 
a  borough  in  which  he  had  never  set  foot.  An  office  was 
soon  found  for  him  in  the  Perceval  government  as  Secre- 
tary at  War,  a  post  which  was  charged  with  the  supervis- 
ion and  control  of  military  expenditure  and  accounts — no 
small  responsibility  at  this  juncture.  During  his  score  of 
years  in  this  capacity  the  young  Palmerston  gave  evidence 
of  superior  abilities  as  a  bureau  chief,  while  on  the  floor  of 
the  House  his  speeches  marked  him  as  a  stanch  asserter 
of  the  power  of  England,  and  a  dangerous  man  to  trifle 


ij6  Ten  Englishmen 

with — so  quick  and  powerful  was  his  gift  of  repartee. 
During  the  brief  ministries  of  Canning  and  Goderich  he 
received  flattering  offers  of  advancement,  leaving  the 
cabinet  in  May,  1828,  with  Canning's  followers,  who 
opposed  the  government  of  Wellington. 

The  young  aristocrat  who  had  impressed  some  of  his 
school-fellows  as  having  no  ambitions  higher  than  to  be  a 
courtier,  had  forsaken  "pigtail  Toryism,"  as  he  called  it, 
and  was  developing  along  liberal  lines.  He  had  been  a 
consistent  advocate  of  Catholic  emancipation,  an  admirer 
of  Canning's  broad  views,  and  hospitable  to  moderate 
propositions  for  the  reform  of  Parliament.  When  Lord 
Grey's  government  was  formed,  in  1830,  he  naturally 
accepted  office  under  it,  becoming  what  he  had  long 
wished  to  be,  Secretary  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs. 
Except  for  a  few  months  he  was  the  spokesman  of  Eng- 
land in  the  world's  councils  until  the  downfall  of  the 
Whigs,  in  1841. 

For  the  duties  of  his  office  Palmerston  had  many  qualifi- 
cations .  His  long  training  in  public  business ;  his  familiarity 
not  only  with  the  languages  of  western  Europe,  but  with 
foreign  public  men,  and  the  national  customs  and  pecu- 
liar modes  of  thought  and  feeling;  his  social  faculty  which 
gave  him  ready  access  to  the  minds  of  others ;  and  his  un- 
failing confidence  in  his  country  and  in  himself,  brought 
him  well  off  from  a  hundred  diplomatic  battles.  As  time 
went  on  the  nation  recognized  in  him  some  of  its  own 
most  striking  characteristics,  and  his  popularity  at  last 
transcended  party  lines.  In  Lord  Palmerston  "John  Bull" 
recognized  himself. 

Of  the  governing  principles  of  his  foreign  policy 
Palmerston's  own  statement,  made  in  1848,  is  as  good  as 


Lord  Palmerston  and  Foreign  Relations 

can  be  given.  It  was  not  based  upon  any  permanent 
alliance  with  other  states,  but  provided  for  such  freedom 
of  action  as  should  secure  the  "balance  of  power"  in 
Europe,  lest  any  single  state  should  become  a  menace, 
like  France  in  the  Napoleonic  era.  Palmerston 's  state- 
ment was,  "As  long  as  England  sympathizes  with  right 
and  justice  she  will  never  find  herself  alone.  She  is  sure 
to  find  some  other  state  of  sufficient  power,  influence,  and 
weight  to  support  and  aid  her  in  the  course  she  may  think 
fit  to  pursue.  Therefore  I  say  that  it  is  a  narrow  policy 
to  suppose  that  this  country  or  that  is  marked  out  as  the 
perpetual  ally  or  the  perpetual  enemy  of  England.  We 
have  no  eternal  allies,  and  we  have  no  perpetual  enemies. 
Our  interests  are  eternal  and  perpetual,  and  those  interests 
it  is  our  duty  to  follow.  And  if  I  might  be  allowed  to 
express  in  one  sentence  the  principle  which  I  think  ought 
to  guide  an  English  minister,  I  would  adopt  the  expres- 
sion of  Canning,  and  say  that  with  every  British  ministry 
the  interests  of  England  ought  to  be  the  shibboleth  of 
policy. ' ' 

The  achievement  of  Belgian  independence  was  the  first 
and  almost  greatest  success  of  the  new  Foreign  Secretary. 
When  the  powers  at  Vienna,  in  1815,  were  rearranging 
the  map  of  Europe  they  had  joined  Belgium  with  Holland 
as  the  kingdom  of  the  Netherlands,  with  the  idea  of  fore- 
stalling any  further  advance  of  France  in  that  quarter. 
The  union  was  unnatural.  Race,  language,  and  religion 
were  opposed  to  it,  and  in  1830,  the  Belgians  revolted. 
A  congress  of  the  powers  met  in  London  to  labor  for  a 
peaceful  solution.  Between  the  claims  of  Holland  and 
the  aggressive  policy  of  France,  a  rupture  was  with  diffi- 
culty avoided.  But  eventually,  by  tact  and  firmness, 


138  Ten  Englishmen 

Palmerston  had  his  way,  and  Belgium  became  an  indepen- 
dent state,  without  precipitating  a  general  European  war. 

The  formation  of  the  Quadruple  Alliance  was  the  next 
incident  in  this  vigorous  foreign  policy.  Portugal  and 
Spain  were  plunged  in  civil  wars,  the  pretenders,  Don 
Miguel  and  Don  Carlos,  attempting  to  wrest  the  scepter 
from  the  hands  of  the  constitutional  queens.  Austria, 
preparing  to  interfere  in  behalf  of  despotism,  was  met,  in 
1834,  by  the  announcement  that  a  treaty  of  alliance  liad 
been  signed  by  the  four  powers — England,  France,  Spain, 
and  Portugal.  Though  it  remained  in  force  but  a  short 
time  it  served  its  purpose. 

The  Eastern  Question  next  took  on  threatening  form. 
Mehemet  Ali,  Pasha  of  Egypt,  rose  against  the  Turkish 
Sultan,  and  his  son,  Ibrahim,  invaded  Syria  and  threat- 
ened Constantinople  itself.  The  Turkish  empire  seemed 
about  to  break  in  two,  France  supporting  the  Pasha,  and 
so  gaining  a  foothold  in  Egypt,  and  Russia  befriending 
the  Porte,  and  advancing  her  frontier  to  the  Bosphorus. 
Such  a  consummation  would  have  interposed  two  hostile 
powers  between  England  and  her  Indian  empire.  In  July, 
1840,  Palmerston  completed  the  Quadrilateral  Alliance, 
by  which  England,  Russia,  Austria,  and  Prussia  agreed 
to  restore  peace  in  the  Forte's  dominions.  This  bold 
stroke,  backed  by  England's  warlike  attitude,  and  Palmer- 
ston's  characteristic  threat  that  "Mehemet  Ali  will  just  be 
chucked  into  the  Nile"  took  the  spirit  out  of  the  French 
government.  Mehemet  Ali  was  left  to  make  the  best 
terms  he  could  with  the  Quadrilateral,  and  the  crisis  was 
at  an  end.  This  was  in  July,  1841.  The  next  month 
the  Whig  ministry  fell,  and  Sir  Robert  Peel'  returned  to 
power.  Palmerston  went  out  of  office  with  flying  colors. 


Lord  Palmerston  and  Foreign  Relations      139 

"He  had  created  Belgium,  saved  Portugal  and  Spain 
from  Absolutism,  rescued  Turkey  from  Russia,  and  the 
highway  to  India  from  France."  It  is  true  that  the  pic- 
ture had  another  side,  and  that  the  very  brilliancy  of  his 
moves,  the  cleverness  with  which  he  played  the  game  of 
diplomacy,  and  his  recklessness  of  the  interests  of  foreign 
courts  left  feelings  of  bitterness  and  defeat  in  the  hearts 
of  many  European  and  American  statesmen.  His  ene- 
mies called  him  a  bully,  and  denounced  his  methods  as 
"high  handed,"  but  his  countrymen  were  satisfied. 

From  1841  to  1846,  as  a  member  of  the  opposition, 
the  ex-Minister  exercised  his  functions  as  a  critic  of  the 
spiritless  foreign  policy  of  Lord  Aberdeen,  for  which  he 
could  find  no  better  name  than  "antiquated  imbecility." 
Upon  Peel's  overthrow,  after  the  repeal  of  the  Corn 
Laws  (1846),  he  resumed  the  foreign  portfolio  in  the 
Cabinet  of  Lord  John  Russell. 

At  once  the  question  of  the  "Spanish  marriages" 
became  acute.  King  Louis  Philippe  of  France,  and  his 
Minister,  Guizot,  had  been  plotting  to  marry  the  child- 
queen,  Isabella  of  Spain,  to  her  worthless  cousin,  Don 
Francisco,  and  her  sister,  the  Infanta,  to  the  Due  de 
Montpensier,  Louis  Philippe's  brother,  with  results  most 
promising  to  the  King  and  to  France,  but  most  distasteful 
to  England,  as  Palmerston  was  prompt  to  declare,  "Such 
an  objection  on  our  part  may  seem  uncourteous  and  may 
be  displeasing,  but  the  friendships  of  states  and  govern- 
ments must  be  founded  on  natural  interests  and  not  upon 
personal  likings."  Yet  despite  these  protests,  the  mar- 
riages were  celebrated.  France  seemed  to  have  outwitted 
Palmerston  for  once.  But  vengeance  was  not  long 
delayed.  The  "Citizen  King"  had  few  friends  among 


140  Ten  Englishmen 

the  monarchical  states  of  the  Continent,  and  in  forfeiting 
the  friendship  of  England  he  kicked  away  one  of  the  props 
of  his  own  throne.  Within  two  years  came  the  Revolu- 
tion of  1848,  which  cost  him  his  crown. 

Eighteen  hundred  and  forty-eight  was  a  year  of  revolu- 
tions. Throughout  western  Europe  the  popular  aspira- 
tions were  struggling  for  expression.  Constitutional 
government  was  clamorously  demanded,  and  the  despot- 
ism which  had  ground  the  Italian  states  under  the  heel  of 
Hapsburg  and  Bourbon  was  for  the  moment  shaken. 
Through  her  outspoken  Foreign  Secretary  England  let  her 
liberal  sympathies  be  known,  but  even  Palmerston  was 
careful  to  keep  within  the  bounds  of  peaceful  protest, 
avoiding  all  provocation  to  war. 

In  April,  1847,  at  Athens,  the  house  of  Don  Pacifico, 
a  Portuguese  Jew  born  on  British  soil  at  Gibraltar,  was 
destroyed  by  a  mob  of  Jew-baiters.  As  a  British  citizen 
he  put  in  a  claim  for  damages  and  asked  the  foreign  office 
to  collect  it.  Palmerston  had  other  scores  to  settle  with 
Greece,  and  when  his  demands  met  with  slow  response, 
he  sent  a  British  fleet  to  the  Piraeus  to  lay  hands  on  Greek 
shipping.  Greece  appealed  to  France  and  Russia  for  pro- 
tection. The  trouble  grew  to  such  proportions  that  the 
British  Parliament  took  it  up.  The  Lords  censured  the 
government  for  its  harsh  and  unjust  treatment  of  a  friendly 
state.  In  the  Commons  a  vote  of  confidence  in  the  for- 
eign policy  was  moved,  and  on  this  question  Lord  Palmer- 
ston delivered  the  greatest  speech  of  his  life.  It  was  an 
exposition  and  defense  of  his  entire  official  career,  and  no 
argument  could  break  the  force  with  Englishmen  of  the 
triumphant  sentence  in  which  it  culminated.  "I  fearlessly 
challenge  the  verdict  which  this  House,  as  representing  a 


Lord  Palmerston  and  Foreign  Relations      141 

political,  a  commercial,  a  constitutional  country,  is  to  give 
on  the  question  before  it;  whether  the  principles  on  which 
the  foreign  policy  of  this  country  has  been  conducted,  and 
the  sense  of  duty  which  has  led  us  to  think  ourselves 
bound  to  afford  protection  to  our  fellow-subjects  abroad, 
are  proper  and  fitting  guides  for  those  who  are  charged 
with  the  government  of  England,  and  whether  as  the 
Roman  in  the  days  of  old  held  himself  free  from  indignity 
when  he  could  say  'Civis  Romanus  sum,'  so  also  a  British 
subject,  in  whatever  land  he  be,  shall  feel  confident  that  the 
watchful  eye  and  the  strong  arm  of  England  shall  protect 
him  against  injustice  and  wrong!" 

This  "Civis  Romanus"  speech  raised  the  orator  to  the 
highest  pitch  of  popular  regard.  But  the  premier  had 
found  him  a  very  troublesome  colleague  on  account  of  his 
confirmed  practice  of  committing  the  government  on  impor- 
tant matters  without  consulting  with  his  chief.  He  was 
warned  by  the  Queen's  personal  memorandum  that  this 
habit  must  cease,  but  an  unpardonable  case  occurred  in 
1851.  Prince  Louis  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  president  of 
the  French  republic,  executed  his  coup  d'etat  and  over- 
threw the  constitutional  government.  Without  consulting 
Queen  or  Premier,  and  contrary  to  their  express  desire, 
Palmerston,  in  conversation  with  the  French  ambassador, 
approved  the  bold  stroke  of  the  Prince-President.  For 
this  indiscretion  Lord  Russell  summarily  dismissed  him. 

When  Lord  Palmerston  again  took  a  portfolio,  it  was 
to  be  Home  Secretary  in  the  coalition  cabinet  of  Lord 
Aberdeen  (1852-55).  He  had  become  the  warm  friend 
and  admirer  of  Lord  Shaftesbury,  whose  mother-in-law, 
Lady  Cowper,  was  now  Lady  Palmerston,  the  most  gra- 
cious and  skilful  helpmeet  that  any  statesman  could  wish  to 


142  Ten  Englishmen 

have.  His  inclination  and  his  position  enabled  him  to  put 
through  much  legislation  suggested  by  the  philanthropic 
peer  for  the  welfare  of  the  working-classes.  His  knowl- 
edge of  foreign  affairs  was  at  the  service  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  came  into  active  play  when  the  Czar's  claim  to 
a  protectorate  over  all  Greek  Christians  in  the  Turkish 
empire  brought  the  Eastern  Question  again  to  a  fever 
heat,  in  1853. 

The  Czar  Nicholas  had  said  in  a  conversation  with 
the  British  Minister  concerning  the  political  weakness  of 
Turkey,  "We  have  on  our  hands  a  sick  man — a  very  sick 
man;  it  will  be  a  great  mistake  if  one  of  these  days  he 
should  slip  away  from  us  before  the  necessary  arrange- 
ments have  been  made."  His  idea  of  "arrangements" 
was  that  Turkey  in  Europe  should  fall  under  Russian  pro- 
tection, leaving  England  free  to  control  her  direct  route 
to  India  by  way  of  Cyprus  and  Egypt.  English  diplo- 
macy encouraged  the  Sultan  to  reject  the  Russian  claim 
to  the  uttermost.  The  result  was  war.  Turkey  first 
declared  it  against  the  Russians,  who  had  already  invaded 
her  Danubian  principalities.  Palmerston  held  that  it  was 
the  duty  of  Europe  to  preserve  the  balance  of  power  by 
preventing  Russia  from  aggrandizing  herself  at  the  expense 
of  Turkey,  and  when  the  Czar  refused  to  withdraw  from 
the  principalities  England  joined  with  France  in  declaring 
the  war,  which,  from  the  scene  of  its  chief  operations 
against  Russia,  has  since  been  called  the  Crimean.  Forty 
years  had  -passed  since  Waterloo  and  war  was  an  exciting 
novelty  for  British  youth.  England  plunged  into  it  with 
enthusiasm,  but  the  feeble  and  incompetent  prosecution 
of  the  campaign  against  Sebastopol,  with  the  mismanage- 
ment of  commissary  and  hospitals,  evoked  a  storm  of 


Lord  Palmerston  and  Foreign  Relations      143 

opposition,  before  which  the  Aberdeen  ministry  collapsed. 
Lord  Palmerston  was  the  natural  choice  of  Queen  and 
nation  to  succeed  him.  He  became  Prime  Minister  in 
February,  1855,  and  though  past  his  seventieth  year,  his 
energy  put  a  new  face  on  the  military  situation,  and  his 
diplomacy  gained  a  substantial  advantage  over  Russia  in 
the  Treaty  of  Paris  (March,  1856),  which  closed  the 
inglorious  conflict,  and  postponed  for  twenty  years  her 
advance  toward  the  Bosphorus.  The  Queen,  who  had 
many  reasons  to  dislike  the  personality  of  her  chief  minis- 
ter, honored  him  with  the  Garter,  in  recognition  of  his  ser- 
vices to  the  state. 

Palmerston's  government  held  together  until  early  in 
1858,  handling  with  vigor  the  various  problems  of  East- 
ern policy  which  grew  out  of  the  Crimean  War,  waging 
the  brief  expeditionary  wars  with  China  and  Persia,  and 
dealing  with  characteristic  decision  and  pluck  with  the 
great  Sepoy  Mutiny  in  India,  in  1857.  To  Palmerston 
belongs  the  credit  of  selecting  the  right  person  in  Sir 
Colin  Campbell  to  restore  the  British  power  in  the  revolted 
provinces,  and  his  ready  optimism  helped  to  nerve  the 
nation  in  this  year  of  trial.  John  Bull  felt  a  new  pride  in 
"Old  Pam"  when,  in  his  Mansion  House  speech,  in  this 
time  of  national  foreboding,  he  served  notice  on  any  for- 
eign nation  whom  it  might  concern  that  "it  would  not  be 
a  safe  game  to  play  to  take  advantage  of  that  which  is 
erroneously  imagined  to  be  the  moment  of  our  weakness." 

Palmerston's  willingness  to  alter  the  English  con- 
spiracy laws  for  the  sake  of  the  Emperor  .of  the  French, 
whose  life  had  been  attempted  by  the  assassin  Orsini, 
cost  him  his  official  head  in  February,  1858.  The 
second  Derby  administration  which  ensued  lasted  but 


144  Ten  Englishmen 

fifteen  months,  giving  way,  in  June  of  the  following  year, 
to  Palmerston's  second  and  last  government,  with  a  bril- 
liant array  of  advisers ;  Earl  Russell  as  Foreign  Secretary, 
and  Mr.  William  Ewart  Gladstone  as  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer.  The  lifelong  determination  to  spare  nothing 
which  might  be  required  for  the  defense  of  his  country 
was  still  strong  within  him,  as  is  shown  by  his  strenuous 
advocacy  of  increased  armaments,  better  coast  defenses, 
and  more  and  more  powerful  ships.  "He  never  ceased 
for  a  single  moment  to  keep  before  the  nation  the  great 
lesson  that  empires  are  kept  as  they  are  gained,  by  cour- 
age and  self-reliance." 

The  Civil  War  in  America  afforded  one  of  the  latest 
opportunities  for  the  display  of  his  characteristics  in  deal- 
ing with  foreign  affairs.  The  sentiment  of  the  ruling 
class  in  England,  the  class  to  which  Lord  Palmerston 
was  allied  by  birth,  interest,  and  lifelong  political  associa- 
tion, openly  showed  its  sympathy  with  the  Southern  side. 
Moreover,  the  English  cotton-mills  were  shut  down  for 
lack  of  the  raw  staple,  and  English  merchants  looked 
longingly  at  the  blockaded  markets  of  the  Confederacy. 
The  Prime  Minister,  true  to  his  guiding  principle,  made 
"the  interests  of  England"  the  watchword  of  his  policy. 
He  was  prompt  to  recognize  the  "belligerent  rights"  of 
the  revolted  states  against  an  angry  protest  from  the 
Union  side;  he  was  strenuous  in  his  demand  for  apology 
and  restitution  in  the  case  of  the  Confederate  envoys 
whom  Captain  Wilkes,  U.  S.  N.,  seized  on  board  the 
British  steamer  "Trent";  and  he  taxed  the  endurance  of 
Mr.  Lincoln's  government  to  the  uttermost  by  allowing  the 
"Alabama"  and  other  Confederate  commerce-destroyers 
to  be  built  and  outfitted  in  British  ports.  Not  even  the 


Lord  Palmerston  and  Foreign  Relations      145 

heavy  bill  of  damages  which  his  country  had  to  pay  at 
Geneva  for  this  breach  of  neutrality  has  softened  the 
bitterness  of  feeling  which  his  action  at  that  time  engen- 
dered in  the  United  States.  If  Lord  Palmerston  was 
the  embodiment  of  "John  Bull,"  he  here  exhibited  the 
national  character  at  its  worst. 

The  "evergreen"  premier,  vigorous  almost  to  the  last, 
died  at  Brocket  in  October,  1865.  He  had  outlived  many 
of  the  traits  which  had  laid  him  open  to  attack  and  criti- 
cism in  his  younger  days,  and  had  gained  in  weight  and 
dignity.  The  knowledge  of  what  he  had  done  for  Eng- 
land, how  he  had  stood  for  her  interests  in  the  Commons, 
and  won  victories  for  her  in  foreign  courts,  and  had  pene- 
trated and  frustrated  the  designs  of  her  enemies,  gave  him 
a  splendid  position  in  the  esteem  of  English  patriots. 
They  even  looked  kindly  upon  his  foibles,  his  foppish  attire, 
his  fondness  for  the  turf,  and  his  frivolous  gayety,  which 
shone  undaunted  when  the  national  gloom  was  blackest. 
When  he  died  there  was  a  general  belief  that  England  had 
lost  a  son  who  had  spared  nothing  in  laboring  for  her 
aggrandizement,  and  he  went  to  his  last  resting-place  in 
Westminster  Abbey  as  one  who  had  earned  a  place  among 
her  most  useful  servants. 

QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW 

1.  Describe  the  early  career  of  Palmerston. 

2.  How  was  he  especially  qualified  for  the  position  of  Sec- 
retary of  Foreign  Affairs  ? 

3.  What  was  the  chief  principle  of  his  foreign  policy  ? 

4.  How  was  the  independence  of  Belgium  brought  about  ? 

5.  What  was  the  work  of  the  Quadruple  Alliance  ? 

6.  How  did  Palmerston  deal  with  the  Egyptian  revolt  and 
why  ? 


146  Ten  Englishmen 

7.  What  was  England's  attitude  toward  the  "  Spanish  Mar- 
riage ' '  ? 

8.  Describe  the  "Civis  Romanus  "  speech  and  the  reasons 
for  it. 

9.  Why  was  Lord  Palmerston  dismissed  from  the  Cabinet  ? 

10.  What  conditions  brought  on  the  Crimean  War  and  what 
was  England's  share  in  it  ? 

11.  What  was  Palmerston's  attitude  in  the  American  Civil 
War? 

12.  How  did  England  regard  the  premier  in  the  last  years 
of  his  life  ? 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Life  of  Viscount  Palmerston.     Lord  Dolling  and  Bulwer. 

Viscount  Palmerston.     L.  C.  Sanders. 

Henry  Havelock.    (English  Men  of  Action  Series.) 

The  Indian  Mutiny.     G.  B.  Malleson. 

The  War  in  the  Crimea.     Gen.  Sir  Edward  Hamley. 


X 

GLADSTONE   AND   THE    IRISH   QUESTION 

[WILLIAM  EWART  GLADSTONE,  born,  Liverpool,  December  29, 
1809;  died,  Hawarden,  Flintshire,  Wales,  May  ig,  1898; 
educated  at  Eton  and  Christ  Church  College,  Oxford  Univer- 
sity (double  first-class,  1831);  Member  of  Parliament  for 
Newark  as  a  Tory,  1832  46;  wrote,  1838,  "The  State  in  its 
Relations  with  the  Church";  held  minor  financial  offices  in 
Peel  administration;  1843-45,  President  of  Board  of  Trade; 
1847-65,  Member  of  Parliament  for  Oxford  University;  1852, 
Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  under  Lord  Aberdeen;  1858, 
Commissioner  to  the  Ionian  Islands;  1859,  Chancellor  of  the 
Exchequer  under  Lord  Palmerston;  1865,  defeated  as  can- 
didate for  Oxford  but  returned  for  South  Lancashire  as  a 
Liberal;  leader  of  House  of  Commons;  proposes  radical 
Reform  Bill;  1868,  Member  of  Parliament  for  Greenwich; 
1868-74,  Premier  (I.);  Disestablishes  Irish  Church;  carries 
National  Educational  Law,  Ballot  Law,  Irish  Land  Act; 
abolishes  purchase  in  the  army;  resigns  Liberal  leadership 
in  1875,  and  publishes  works  on  ecclesiastical  controversy; 
1876,  attacks  Disraeli's  Eastern  policy  in  letters  on  Bulgarian 
atrocities;  1880,  Member  of  Parliament  for  Midlothian; 
1880-85,  Premier  (II.);  Irish  Coercion  Acts;  new  Land  Acts; 
Arrears  of  Rent  Act;  Franchise  and  Redistribution  Acts; 
1886,  Premier  (III.);  First  Home  Rule  Bill  Fails;  1892-94, 
Premier  (IV.);  1893,  Second  Home  Rule  Bill  carried  through 
the  Commons,  thrown  out  by  the  Lords;  retires  from  public 
life  March,  1894;  buried  in  Westminster  Abbey.] 

From  the  first  day  of  the  nineteenth  century  to  the  last 
the  statesmen  of  England  have  had  one  standing  problem 
to  face.  It  might  conje  up  under  various  forms  and  dis- 


148  Ten  Englishmen 

guises,  and  it  might  seem  to  demand  various  remedies, 
but  in  some  shape  or  other  the  woes  of  Ireland  have 
always  furnished  the  test  of  practical  statesmanship,  and 
have  often  been  the  rock  on  which  proud  administrations 
have  met  with  disaster. 

By  nature  Ireland  would  seem  formed  for  peace  and 
plenty.  Happily  located  with  the  protecting  bulwark  of 
Great  Britain  between  their  emerald  isle  and  foreign  foes, 
blessed  with  a  mild  and  equable  climate,  and  inhabiting  an 
island  of  singular  fertility,  the  Irish  would  seem  to  have 
been  marked  for  fortune's  favors.  Yet  such  has  been 
the  misgovernment  of  the  English  that  the  Irish  have  seen 
their  paternal  acres  pass  into  the  hands  of  aliens  and 
absentees,  their  religion  made  a  brand  of  shame  and  out- 
lawry, their  Parliament  corrupted  and  done  away,  their 
industries  crippled  and  bound  down,  and  themselves 
reduced  to  wretched  poverty. 

At  the  outset  of  the  century  the  Act  of  Union  went  into 
effect,  abolishing  the  Irish  Parliament  and  admitting  Irish 
(Protestant)  Lords  and  Commons  to  the  Parliament  at 
Westminster.  Pitt  believed  that  the  change  would 
strengthen  the  empire  and  help  Ireland  as  well,  but  it  was 
brought  to  pass  by  means  of  lavish  bribery,  and  sorely 
against  the  wish  of  the  Irish  patriots.  Furthermore,  the 
determination  of  Pitt  to  commend  the  act  to  Ireland  by 
removing  the  political  disabilities  which  barred  Catholics 
from  membership  in  Parliament  was  thwarted  by  the  stiff- 
necked  George  III.,  who  had  got  it  into  his  head  that  such 
a  concession  would  do  violence  to  the  Protestantism  of 
his  coronation  oath.  Pitt  resigned  in  disgust,  and  Catho- 
lic emancipation  had  to  await  until  England  had  finished 
Napoleon's  European  business  and  could  turn  her  hand 


Gladstone  and  the  Irish  Question         149 

to  the  troubles  nearer  home.  It  was  finally  carried,  in 
l82Q,  by  Wellington  and  Peel,  the  reform  being  fairly 
forced  upon  them  by  the  tremendous  agitation  in  its 
behalf  by  the  eloquent  Daniel  O'Connell  and  his  comrades 
of  the  Catholic  Association.  To  save  the  nation  from 
civil  war  the  government  yielded  with  scant  grace,  and 
O'Connell  and  his  "tail"  of  Irish  Catholics  came  into 
Parliament  to  form  a  new  and  perplexing  element  in  all 
subsequent  political  calculations. 

From  his  vantage-ground  as  a  member  of  Parliament 
O'Connell  led  a  fresh  agitation  for  the  "Repeal,"  mean- 
ing the  repeal  of  the  Act  of  Union  which  had  destroyed  the 
Dublin  Parliament.  His  oratory,  which  in  its  power  over 
vast  multitudes  of  his  emotional  countrymen  has  never 
been  surpassed,  made  him  the  idol  of  his  party.  To 
boisterous  congregations  of  tens  of  thousands  he  declaimed 
his  bitter  harangues  on  Saxon  injustice  to  the  Celt.  But 
when  the  people  had  been  brought  to  fever  heat  the  agita- 
tion failed  because  the  orator  proved  to  be  a  voice  and 
nothing  more.  He  yielded  meekly  to  the  proclamation  of 
the  government  forbidding  further  meetings,  and  his  fol- 
lowers forsook  him  when  they  saw  that  he  would  not 
cross  the  Rubicon  and  take  arms  after  words  had  failed. 
The  society  called  "Young  Ireland,"  formed  about  1840, 
took  up  the  agitation  for  Irish  nationality,  and  carried  it  to 
greater  lengths  than  O'Connell  had  dared.  Its  fiery 
young  leaders,  Smith  O'Brien,  Meagher,  and  Mitchel, 
preached  sedition  with  voice  and  newspaper  press,  and  in 
1848,  only  by  the  vigorous  exertion  of  physical  force  was 
open  rebellion  averted.  The  principal  men  of  the  Young 
Ireland  party  were  seized  and  condemned  to  death  for 
high  treason,  though  they  ultimately  got  off  with  trans- 


150  Ten  Englishmen 

portation  to  Australia,  whence  most  of  them  eventually 
found  their  way  to  America,  whither  thousands  of  their 
countrymen  had  emigrated  since  the  famine  year  of  1846. 

The  famine  marks  a  turning-point  in  the  history  of  the 
relations  of  England  and  Ireland.  As  has  been  narrated 
in  another  place,  it  was  the  dearth  of  food  in  Ireland 
which  forced  the  government  of  Sir  Robert  Peel  to  do 
what  the  Cobdenites  had  been  demanding  for  ten  years, 
and  repeal  the  Corn  Laws.  Probably  the  distressful 
plight  of  the  Irish  peasant  had  never  been  brought  so 
strongly  to  the  attention  of  Englishmen  as  by  the  reports 
which  now  reached  England  from  the  agents  of  the  relief 
committees  who  visited  every  part  of  the  island  ascertain- 
ing conditions  and  distributing  food.  From  this  time  a 
considerable  number  among  the  English  Liberals  carried 
the  sad  state  of  Ireland  upon  their  heart  and  conscience. 
Another  result  of  the  famine  which  was  to  exercise  endur- 
ing influence  upon  Irish  politics  was  the  emigration  to 
America.  The  hundreds  of  thousands  who  came  to  the 
free  republic  at  this  time  soon  made  it  the  asylum  of  Irish 
patriots,  the  hot-bed  of  anti-English  conspiracies,  and 
the  source  of  a  swelling  stream  of  revenue  for  the  Irish 
nationalist  treasury. 

It  was  in  America  that  the  next  alarm  was  sounded 
after  two  unquiet  decades.  A  widely  ramified  secret 
society,  the  Fenian  Brotherhood,  sprang  up  among  the 
Irish  exiles  and  emigrants  in  the  United  States  about 
1857,  its  members  swearing  "to  free  and  regenerate  Ire- 
land from  the  yoke  of  England."  The  movement  spread 
to  Ireland,  and  Fenian  lodges  were  organized  even  on 
British  soil.  The  close  of  the  American  Civil  War  set 
loose  many  Irish  veterans  who  eagerly  enlisted  in  the 


Gladstone  and  the  Irish  Question         151 

cause  of  "the  Irish  Republic."  The  reports  of  vast 
enlistments  and  contributions  in  America  alarmed  the 
British  government.  In  February,  1866,  the  Habeas 
Corpus  Act  was  suspended  in  Ireland,  and  scores  of  sus- 
pects were  thrown  into  jail.  In  May  an  armed  band  of 
Irish-American  Fenians  crossed  the  Niagara  River  to 
invade  Canada.  The  attempt  failed  miserably,  as  did  the 
plans  for  a  general  rising  in  Ireland.  But  a  succession 
of  surprises,  jail  deliveries,  gunpowder  plots,  and  the  like, 
kept  the  English  government  in  a  flutter  for  several 
years,  and  gave  the  name  of  Fenian  a  place  in  the  somber 
side  of  the  century's  history.  The  most  notable  result  of 
the  Fenian  outbreak,  beyond  its  obvious  one  of  embitter- 
ing the  feeling  between  the  governing  nation  and  the 
subject  race,  was  that  it  aroused  one  man — and  he  the 
greatest  statesman  of  his  time — to  the  need  of  providing 
some  far-reaching  and  sufficient  remedy  for  the  disease 
which  showed  such  virulence.  "We  know,"  says 
McCarthy,  the  historian  of  the  epoch,  "that  even  the 
worst  excesses  of  the  movement  impressed  the  mind  of 
Mr.  Gladstone  with  a  conviction  that  the  hour  was  appro- 
priate for  doing  something  to  remove  the  causes  of  the 

discontent  that  made  Ireland  restless While  many 

public  instructors  lost  themselves  in  vain  shriekings  over 
the  wickedness  of  Fenianism,  and  the  incurable  perversity 
of  the  Irish  people,  one  statesman  was  already  convinced 
that  the  very  shock  of  the  Fenian  agitation  would  arouse 
public  attention  to  the  recognition  of  substantial  grievance, 
and  to  the  admission  that  the  business  of  statesmanship 
was  to  seek  out  the  remedy  and  provide  redress." 

The  statesman  who  accomplished  the  disestablishment 
of  the  Irish  Church,  reformed  the  Land  Laws,  and  devoted 


if2  Ten  Englishmen 

the  closing  decade  of  a  great  career  to  a  fruitless  endeavor 
to  secure  to  Ireland  the  benefits  of  self-government,  cer- 
tainly ranks  among  the  century's  foremost  Englishmen. 
In  length  of  parliamentary  service,  in  the  frequency  and 
duration  of  his  terms  as  premier,  in  administrative  abil- 
ity, in  moral  force,  and  moving  eloquence,  it  would  be 
difficult  to  find  in  the  long  history  of  English  statesman- 
ship a  name  which  shines  with  a  purer  ray  than  that  of 
William  Ewart  Gladstone. 

The  family  name  was  anciently  Gledstane,  and  the 
ancestry  on  both  sides  of  the  house  was  purely  Scotch. 
Sir  John  Gladstone  made  his  own  way  in  life,  amassed 
a  fortune  as  a  corn  merchant  in  Liverpool,  and  became 
a  member  of  Parliament  and  a  follower  of  Peel.  His 
gentle  and  pious  wife  admirably  supplemented  his  master- 
ful nature,  and  the  sons  of  the  household  were  brought  up 
in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord.  At  the  age 
of  eleven  the  third  son,  William  Ewart  Gladstone,  was 
sent  away  to  Eton,  where  his  two  brothers  were  already 
at  school.  Here  his  piety  and  studious  habits  militated 
against  his  popularity,  but  here  his  intellectual  ambition 
was  aroused  and  his  soul  was  enriched  by  the  closest 
intimacy  with  Arthur  Hallam,  whom  Tennyson's  "In 
Memoriam"  has  eulogized.  Like  Canning  he  was  a  pre- 
cocious orator,  and  edited  the  school  paper  with  an  ability 
which  led  some  of  his  contemporaries  to  predict  a  great 
future  for  him.  "I  am  confident,"  said  Arthur  Hallam, 
"that  he  is  a  bud  that  will  bloom  with  a  richer  fragrance 
than  almost  any  whose  early  promise  I  have  witnessed." 
At  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  he  justified  the  hopes  of  his 
friends — a  quiet,  abstemious,  reading  man,  mighty  in 
debate,  learned  and  devout  in  theology,  and  a  tower  of 


Gladstone  and  the  Irish  Question         i  53 

strength  in  examinations.  He  graduated  with  a  double 
first  class  (classics  and  mathematics)  in  1831,  as  Robert 
Peel  had  done  a  generation  earlier.  His  choice  of  a 
career  would  have  taken  him  into  the  clergy  of  the  Church 
of  England,  but  his  father  saw  in  him  the  making  of  a 
parliamentary  leader,  and  to  the  House  of  Commons  he 
was  accordingly  returned  in  1833,  entering  the  first 
Reformed  Parliament  as  a  Tory. 

Sir  Robert  Peel  was  then  engaged  in  rallying  the  shat- 
tered forces  of  Toryism  under  the  new  name  of  Con- 
servatives, and  building  up  a  working  opposition.  He 
welcomed  the  eloquent  young  Oxonian,  and  when  he 
became  Prime  Minister  in  December,  1834,  he  gave 
William  Gladstone  one  of  the  minor  offices  in  his  short- 
lived government.  In  the  spring  of  1835  he  was  again  a 
private  member  of  the  House,  free  to  devote  himself  to 
the  religious  and  literary  pursuits  which  appealed  so 
strongly  to  him.  In  1838,  when  the  Tractarian  move- 
ment was  at  its  height,  Gladstone  wrote  his  book  on  "The 
State  in  its  Relations  with  the  Church."  Reviewing  the 
work  Macaulay  described  the  author  as  "the  rising  hope 
of  the  stern  and  unbending  Tories,"  words  often  quoted 
in  later  years,  when  his  political  bedfellows  were  of  quite 
another  sort.  The  book  increased  the  author's  reputa- 
tion. In  1839  he  was  married  to  Miss  Catharine  Glynne 
of  Hawarden  Castle,  Flintshire.  In  1840  his  second 
important  book,  a  vindication  of  High  Church  principles, 
came  from  the  press.  The  next  year  his  leader,  Peel, 
came  back  to  power,  giving  Gladstone,  of  course,  a  post 
in  the  government  (vice-president  of  the  Board  of  Trade). 
Gladstone  was  then  a  protectionist  like  his  party  chief. 
He  bore  a  hand  in  the  preparation  of  the  tariff  legislation 


1 54  Ten  Englishmen 

of  that  epoch-making  administration,  and  though  tempo- 
rarily not  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons  when  the 
bill  for  the  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws  was  carried,  in  1846, 
he  helped  to  frame  it,  and  to  secure  its  passage.  He  had 
been  fully  converted  to  the  principles  of  free  trade  as 
preached  by  Richard  Cobden  and  the  Manchester  school, 
and  remained  true  to  that  principle  to  the  last. 

Going  out  of  office,  in  1846,  with  the  fall  of  the  Peel 
ministry,  Mr.  Gladstone  continued  to  occupy  a  prominent 
place  in  Parliament,  acting  with  the  group  of  Peelites,  so 
called,  who  kept  alive  the  name  and  principles  of  the  lost 
leader.  Though  still  accounted  as  of  the  Tory  party, 
Mr.  Gladstone's  alert  and  open  mind  led  him  to  make 
fresh  and  independent  studies  of  current  political  ques- 
tions and  to  decide  them  according  to  his  own  enlightened 
judgment.  The  result  was  to  weaken  by  degrees  the  ties 
which  bound  him  to  the  Tories  and  to  knit  more  closely 
the  bonds  which  were  to  unite  his  fortunes  with  the  Liber- 
als. In  1852,  the  Peelites  having  joined  the  Liberal 
coalition  to  overthrow  the  Derby-Disraeli  ministry,  Mr. 
Gladstone's  services  were  rewarded  with  the  Chancellor- 
ship of  the  Exchequer,  in  which  office  he  delivered  the 
first  of  the  many  budget  speeches  for  which  he  was  so 
celebrated.  From  1855  to  1859  ne  was  again  out  of 
office,  and  without  party  affiliations,  "a  roving  iceberg," 
to  use  his  own  description.  The  latter  year  found  him 
again  at  the  head  of  the  Exchequer,  this  time  in  the 
Liberal  Cabinet  of  Lord  Palmerston,  where  he  served 
with  distinction,  becoming,  in  1865,  the  leader  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  when  the  death  of  Palmerston  raised 
his  colleague,  Lord  John  Russell,  to  the  premiership. 
With  his  chief — one  of  the  heroes  of  the  first  successful 


Gladstone  and  the  Irish  Question         155 

struggle  for  parliamentary  reform — he  now  drew  up  the 
Reform  Bill  of  1866  which  was  intended  so  to  modify  the 
qualifications  for  the  franchise  as  to  admit  four  hundred 
thousand  new  voters  to  the  electorate.  Though  the  gov- 
ernment was  defeated  and  went  out  of  office  on  the  ques- 
tion, the  principle  scored  a  singular  victory,  for  in  the 
following  year  Disraeli,  bidding  high  for  democratic  sup- 
port, carried  by  Tory  votes  an  even  more  liberal  measure 
of  reform.  By  this  bill,  which  some  one  called  his  "leap 
in  the  dark,"  Disraeli  boasted  that  he  had  "dished  the 
Whigs."  The  taunt  was  thrown  at  him  which  he  had 
cast  at  Peel  "that  he  had  caught  his  opponents  bathing 
and  run  off  with  their  clothes."  Rumor  imputed  to  him 
the  boast  that  by  this  move  he  had  got  the  best  of  Glad- 
stone and  "would  hold  him  down  for  twenty  years,"  yet, 
within  a  twelvemonth,  Gladstone  had  attacked  and 
defeated  the  government  in  the  Commons,  and  before  the 
end  of  the  next  year  was  himself  Prime  Minister,  backed 
by  a  powerful  majority  of  the  Reformed  Parliament. 

It  was  an  Irish  question  which  caused  the  overthrow 
of  the  Conservatives  and  swept  the  Liberals  into  their 
seats,  and  though  this  Gladstonian  administration 
(1868-74)  and  its  successors  (1880-85,  1886,  1892-94) 
were  rich  in  progressive  measures,  they  are  pre-eminent 
for  what  they  did  and  attempted  to  do  for  Ireland.  The 
three  grievances  of  Ireland  since  the  granting  of  Catholic 
emancipation  have  related  to  the  Established  Church, 
the  tenure  of  land,  and  self-government.  Mr.  Gladstone 
took  them  up  in  succession,  removing  the  first,  ameliorat- 
ing the  second,  and  giving  his  closing  years  to  a  tremen- 
dous parliamentary  struggle  to  secure  the  third. 

The  Church  of  Ireland,  as  established  by  law  and  main- 


156  Ten  Englishmen 

tained  by  taxation,  was  an  absurdity.  Its  doctrines  were 
offensive  to  five-sixths  of  the  Irish  people,  whose  volun- 
tary offerings  went  to  support  the  Roman  Catholic  priests, 
while  the  absentee  Anglican  Protestant  rectors  lived  luxu- 
riously in  England  or  the  Continent  upon  the  revenues  of 
their  Irish  parishes.  The  situation  was  anomalous.  In 
1867  Mr.  Gladstone,  ardent  Anglican  though  he  was, 
espoused  the  cause  of  Irish  disestablishment,  and  went  to 
the  country  on  the  issue,  winning  the  parliamentary  elec- 
tions by  a  splendid  majority.  There  was  loud  outcry 
from  the  British  Tories,  who  professed  to  fear  for  the 
existence  of  the  Church  of  England  itself.  The  majority 
of  the  English  clergy  denounced  the  proposition,  and 
some  even  declared  its  author  a  madman;  but  Mr.  Glad- 
stone pursued  his  chosen  way  with  energy  and  directness. 
In  one  of  those  elevated  speeches  with  which  he  was 
accustomed  to  ennoble  debate,  he  laid  the  details  of  his' 
plan  open  to  the  Commons.  The  Irish  Church  was  to  be 
disestablished  and  disendowed,  its  bishops  were  to  lose 
their  seats  in  Parliament,  and  it  was  to  become  a  free  and 
independent  ecclesiastical  body,  like  the  Presbyterian, 
Wesleyan,  or  Catholic  churches,  without  further  aid  from 
the  state.  "I  trust,"  said  the  impassioned  advocate, 
"that  when  instead  of  the  fictitious  and  adventitious  aid 
on  which  we  have  too  long  taught  the  Irish  establishment 
to  lean,  it  shall  come  to  place  its  trust  in  its  own 
resources,  in  its  own  great  mission,  in  all  that  it  can  draw 
from  the  energy  of  its  ministers  and  its  members,  and  the 
high  hopes  and  promises  of  the  Gospel  that  it  teaches,  it 
will  find  that  it  has  entered  upon  a  new  era  of  existence — 
an  era  bright  with  hope  and  potent  for  good."  The 
Lords  did  not  seriously  oppose  a  measure  for  which  the 


Gladstone  and  the  Irish  Question         157 

country  had  spoken  so  distinctly,  and  the  bill  became  a 
law,  July  26,  1869.  One  standing  grievance  of  Ireland 
had  thus  received  radical  remedy. 

In  1870  Mr.  Gladstone  laid  the  ax  at  the  root  of 
another  tree  whose  fruit  had  cursed  the  Irish  peasantry. 
This  was  the  system  of  land  tenure  which  prevailed  in  the 
southern  and  western  counties.  In  the  province  of  Ulster, 
in  the  north  of  Ireland,  the  tenantry  were  of  another  sort, 
and  there  were  other  means  of  livelihood  than  agriculture. 
Out  of  this  condition  had  sprung  the  so-called  "Ulster 
tenant-right,"  the  vital  principle  of  which  was  that  a 
tenant  could  not  be  evicted  so  long  as  he  paid  his  rent, 
and  "could  sell  the  good  will  of  his  farm  for  what  it  would 
fetch  in  the  market. ' '  This  tenant-right  was  what  Palmer- 
ston  dismissed  with  the  scornful  remark  that  it  was  another 
name  for  "landlord's  wrong."  It  did  not  exist  elsewhere 
*in  Ireland,  where  a  landlord  might  raise  the  rent  and 
throw  a  tenant  into  the  street  at  will.  The  Land  Act, 
which  Gladstone  carried  in  1870,  gave  legal  force  to  the 
old  Ulster  custom  and  applied  it  to  the  whole  island.  Pro- 
vision was  made  by  which  the  tenant  whose  improvements 
had  increased  the  value  of  his  holding  might  receive 
compensation.  The  Irish  landlords  and  the  same  class  in 
England  made  a  clamorous  protest  against  such  "state 
interference  with  freedom  of  contract,"  but  without  avail. 
Of  what  the  Land  Act  of  1870  accomplished,  Mr.  Justin 
McCarthy  i»  a  competent  judge.  He  says:  "It  was  a 
first  and  an  experimental  measure,  and  no  first  and  experi- 
mental measure  ever  does  quite  succeed  in  its  object.  It 
has  had  to  be  amended  and  expanded  over  and  over 

again But  it  introduced  a  new  principle,  which 

no  one  since  has  ever  attempted  to  abolish.     That  new 


1^8  Ten  Englishmen 

principle  was  that  the  Irish  tenant  was  entitled  to  some 
share  and  property  in  the  improvements  which  he  himself 
had  made  in  his  farm.  It  was,  therefore,  in  the  best 
sense  of  the  word,  a  revolutionary  measure.  It  created 
a  new  principle,  and  that  principle  has  since  been  settled. 
It  did  not  go  nearly  far  enough  in  the  right  direction,  but 
it  showed  the  direction  in  which  legislation  ought  to  go, 
and  it  was  on  that  account  the  opening  of  a  new  era  for 
Ireland." 

The  same  wave  of  reforming  zeal  which  brought  these 
blessings  to  Ireland  gave  the  English  nation  its  first  sys- 
tem of  free  schools  (1870),  abolished  the  purchase  of 
commissions  in  the  army  (1871),  agreed  to  the  principle 
of  arbitrations  in  international  disputes  (the  Geneva  award 
on  the  "Alabama  Claims"  1872),  and  introduced  the  vote 
by  ballot  (1872).  The  effort  to  establish  university  edu- 
cation in  Ireland  upon  a  basis  broad  enough  to  afford 
equal  opportunities  for  Roman  Catholic  and  Protestant 
youth  was  defeated  (1873).  A  few  months  later,  when 
the  national  election  had  pronounced  against  the  liberal 
policy,  Mr.  Gladstone  yielded  his  place  to  his  rival, 
Disraeli. 

In  the  spring  of  1874  Mr.  Gladstone  formally  resigned 
the  leadership  of  his  party,  then  in  opposition,  and  with- 
drew to  a  considerable  degree  from  active  participation  in 
parliamentary  affairs,  devoting  himself  with  his  accus- 
tomed zeal  to  his  studies,  which  at  that  time  were  con- 
cerned with  ecclesiastical  subjects.  From  his  retirement 
he  emerged,  in  1876,  to  write  that  trenchant  series  of 
letters  on  the  "Bulgarian  Atrocities,"  which  so  stirred 
the  indignation  of  the  English  people  that  Disraeli  was 
unable  to  carry  them  into  an  armed  alliance  with  the  red- 


Gladstone  and  the  Irish  Question          159 

handed  Turk  against  the  Russians.  His  fierce  and 
persistent  onslaughts  upon  the  foreign  policy  of  the  gov- 
ernment at  length  carried  the  nation  with  him  and  drove 
Disraeli  (now  Lord  Beaconsfield)  from  power. 

No  one  but  Mr.  Gladstone  could  be  thought  of  to  head 
the  ministry,  and  in  1880,  he  came  in  for  his  second  term 
as  Prime  Minister.  The  state  of  Ireland  again  concerned 
him  deeply.  He  carried  an  improved  Land  Act,  but  the 
Lords  threw  out  his  bill  to  relieve  the  special  difficulties 
which  the  famine  of  1880  had  brought  upon  the  Irish 
tenantry,  and  the  exasperated  tenantry  resorted  to  repris- 
als upon  the  persons  and  property  of  the  landlords.  The 
Irish  Land  League,  under  the  direction  of  Charles  Stew- 
art Parnell,  resisted  the  operation  of  the  new  Land  Act 
until  its  worth  should  have  been  tested.  Mr.  Gladstone 
and  the  Irish  leaders  worked  at  cross  purposes,  and  thor- 
oughly distrusted  one  another.  The  government  found 
it  necessary  to  exert  force  in  order  to  suppress  the  agrarian 
disorders.  Mr.  Parnell  and  his  associates  were  thrown 
into  jail,  and  the  Land  League  was  proclaimed  as  an 
unlawful  association.  Parnell,  whose  word  was  law  with 
the  Leaguers,  retaliated  by  forbidding  the  tenantry  to  pay 
rent.  In  the  spring  of  1882,  when  better  feeling  was 
beginning  to  prevail,  some  Irish  conspirators  (Invin- 
cibles)  assassinated  Lord  Frederick  Cavendish  and  his 
secretary  in  Phoenix  Park,  Dublin.  Cavendish  was  the 
newly  appointed  secretary  for  Ireland,  and  appears  to  have 
been  mistaken  for  W.  E.  Forster,  his  predecessor,  who 
was  held  responsible  for  the  rigorous  measures  of  the 
past  winter.  The  National  League  was  formed  to  take 
the  place  of  the  proscribed  Land  League,  and  Irish  dis- 
tress and  crime  continued  with  little  abatement.  The 


160  Ten  Englishmen 

"boycott"  was  applied  in  its  most  oppressive  form,  rents 
remained  unpaid,  and  evictions  were  frequent  and  dis- 
tressing. 

Cabinet  dissensions  over  Irish  measures  and  general 
criticism  of  the  foreign  policy  which  had  made  a  generous 
peace  with  the  Boers  of  South  Africa,  and  was  accused 
of  abandoning  General  Gordon  to  his  fate  at  Khartoum, 
weakened  its  hold  upon  the  people  and  their  representa- 
tives. The  Irish  members  held  the  balance  of  power  in 
the  Commons,  and  when,  in  the  spring  of  1885,  they 
joined  forces  with  the  Conservatives,  the  Liberals  were 
again  unseated. 

Lord  Salisbury  and  Lord  Randolph  Churchill,  the 
Conservative  leaders  who  came  into  power  in  1885, 
enjoyed  a  brief  and  troubled  tenure  of  office.  The 
general  election  of  1885  was  the  first  to  be  held  under  the 
Reform  Law  of  the  previous  year,  which  had  given  to 
Ireland  the  same  freedom  of  electoral  franchise  which  had 
existed  in  the  English  and  Scottish  boroughs  since  1869. 
The  result  was  a  great  increase  in  the  number  of  Nation- 
alist members  in  Parliament.  Of  the  one  hundred  and 
three  members  for  Ireland  no  less  than  eighty-four  were 
returned  as  Home  Rulers,  a  compact  and  formidable  body 
acting  as  a  unit  under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Parnell. 

The  first  leader  of  the  little  company  of  Irish  Home 
Rulers  that  had  appeared  in  Parliament  in  the  early  '/o's 
was  Isaac  Butt.  His  repeated  attempts  to  have  the  sub- 
ject considered  were  as  often  rejected  with  derision.  In 
his  own  party  he  was  opposed  by  an  element  which 
desired  to  resort  to  aggressive  measures  to  compel  the 
English  to  heed  Ireland's  demand  for  local  self-govern- 
ment. Prominent  in  this  radical  wing  was  a  young 


Gladstone  and  the  Irish  Question         161 

Protestant,  Charles  Stewart  Parnell,  the  grandson  of 
Commodore  Stewart  of  the  United  States  Navy.  In 
1880  he  was  recognized  as  the  chairman  of  the  Irish 
Home  Rulers  in  Parliament.  For  many  years  he  con- 
tinued to  exercise  a  control  over  this  party  and  over  the 
Irish  people  such  as  no  one,  save  perhaps  O'Connell  him- 
self, had  ever  attained.  He  conceived  and  enforced  the 
obstructive  policy  which  so  embarrassed  the  second  Glad- 
stone administration.  By  exasperating  tactics,  which  we 
Americans  call  "filibustering,"  the  obstructionists,  unable 
to  secure  what  they  wanted  for  Ireland,  succeeded  in 
paralyzing  the  law-making  branch  of  the  British  constitu- 
tion. It  was  only  by  adopting  new  and  arbitrary  rules 
for  choking  off  debate  that  any  legislation  could  be  passed 
in  the  stormy  decade  beginning  with  1881.  Arrests,  sus- 
pensions, and  expulsions  of  Irish  members  repeatedly 
disturbed  the  dignity  of  the  House  of  Commons,  and 
kept  ever  present  before  the  English  representatives  the 
temper  of  the  subject  kingdom. 

A  statesman  as  earnest  as  Mr.  Gladstone,  as  little 
bound  by  precedent,  and  as  surely  impelled  in  his  later 
years  by  a  purpose  to  enact  into  law  the  wishes  of  the 
people,  could  not  but  be  profoundly  impressed  by  the 
unanimity  with  which,  in  1885,  the  Irish  used  their  new 
gift  of  the  ballot  to  send  men  to  Parliament  who  were 
pledged  to  work  for  Home  Rule.  It  was  no  sudden  con- 
version but  the  result  of  a  long  consideration  which  led 
to  his  open  profession,  in  1885,  of  his  determination  to 
crown  his  efforts  for  the  relief  of  the  Irish  nation  by  giv- 
ing them  the  separate  legislative  body  for  which  they  had 
asked  with  such  persistent  clamor.  It  is  possible,  in 
reviewing  his  statements  for  a  dozen  years  previous,  in 


1 62  Ten  Englishmen 

the  light  of  the  final  declaration,  that  his  mind  had  been 
dwelling  on  the  subject  as  his  old  political  mentor,  Peel, 
dwelt  upon  the  question  of  free  trade  in  the  years  before 
he  renounced  protectionism  utterly. 

No  sooner  did  Gladstone  come  into  office,  in  1886, 
than  he  concentrated  his  energies  upon  his  Home  Rule 
project.  His  chief  lieutenant,  John  Morley,  the  English 
Radical,  was  sent  to  Ireland  as  chief  secretary.  In  April, 
in  one  of  the  greatest  speeches  of  a  career  remark- 
able for  its  eloquence,  Mr.  Gladstone  introduced  to  the 
House  of  Commons  his  first  Home  Rule  Bill,  "An  act  to 
make  better  provision  for  the  government  of  Ireland." 
It  proposed  to  establish  at  Dublin  a  Parliament  of  Peers 
and  Commons,  under  a  lord-lieutenant  appointed  by  the 
crown,  and  an  independent  privy  council.  The  Irish 
Parliament  was  to  have  control  of  local  finances  except 
customs  duties,  and  it  was  excluded  from  interference 
with  army  and  navy,  foreign  or  colonial  affairs,  or  with 
religious  endowments.  An  essential  provision  was  that 
after  the  establishment  of  the  Dublin  Parliament  Ireland 
should  no  longer  be  represented  in  the  "imperial"  Parlia- 
ment at  Westminster.  A  week  later  a  "purchase  of 
land"  bill  was  introduced  by  the  Prime  Minister  to  pro- 
vide funds  for  buying  out  the  Irish  landlords  and  distribut- 
ing their  holdings  among  the  tenants.  The  Home  Rule 
Bill  split  the  Liberal  party  in  twain.  Lord  Hartington, 
the  Whig,  Joseph  Chamberlain,  the  Radical,  and  John 
Bright,  the  hero  of  the  non-conformists,  broke  away  from 
their  old  leader  and  helped  to  organize  the  "Liberal 
Unionist"  party,  rallying  those  Liberals  who  remained 
true  to  the  Act  of  Legislative  Union  of  the  three  king- 
doms. Ninety-three  rallied  under  this  banner  on  April 


Gladstone  and  the  Irish  Question         163 

1 4th,  when  the  bill  was  killed  on  its  second  reading  by  a 
vote  of  343  to  313.  The  nation  was  appealed  to  in  vain. 
In  July  the  Gladstonian  government  gave  up  the  fight 
against  the  Conservative  and  Liberal-Unionist  coalition 
and  Lord  Salisbury  resumed  the  premiership. 

For  Ireland  a  new  era  began,  characterized  by  agrarian 
crime,  anti-rent  agitation  under  the  "Plan  of  Campaign," 
and  Parnellite  obstruction  at  Westminster. 

In  1893  the  "Grand  Old  Man,"  now  Prime  Minister 
for  the  fourth  time,  and  in  his  eighty-fourth  year,  made  a 
final  endeavor  to  bring  order  into  Ireland,  by  enabling  her 
to  regulate  her  own  affairs.  The  Home  Rule  Bill  of  1893 
differed  from  the  earlier  measure  chiefly  in  respect  to  the 
Irish  representation  at  Westminster.  Ireland,  in  addition 
to  her  local  Parliament  at  Dublin,  was  granted  eighty  seats 
in  the  "imperial"  House  of  Commons,  though  the  Irish 
members  might  not  vote  on  exclusively  British  measures. 
"This  was  to  get  over  two  objections:  The  first  was  the 
objection  of  those  who  complained  of  Ireland's  being 
taxed  by  the  imperial  Parliament  without  representation. 
The  second  was  the  objection  of  those  who  complained 
that  whereas  English  members  could  not  interfere  in  the 
affairs  of  Ireland,  Irish  members  might  come  over  to  the 
imperial  Parliament  and  interfere  in  the  affairs  of  Eng- 
land." The  Old  Man  Eloquent,  now  backed  by  an  over- 
whelming majority,  carried  the  bill  triumphantly  through 
the  Lower  House  only  to  meet  defeat  by  a  majority  of  ten 
to  one  in  the  Lords,  the  stronghold  of  Conservatism, 
where  every  progressive  measure  of  reform  has  to  en- 
counter resistance  at  the  outset.  Though  the  Lords  have 
learned  to  yield  when  the  nation  reiterates  its  determined 
demand  for  a  law,  they  were  spared  on  this  occasion. 


164  Ten  Englishmen 

Mr.  Gladstone  did  not  renew  the  bill.  In  March,  1894, 
he  withdrew  forever  from  public  life,  which  he  had  adorned 
so  long  and  so  conspicuously,  his  last  words  in  Parlia- 
ment taking  the  form  of  an  impressive  warning  against 
the  assertion  of  authority  by  the  Upper  House.  In  his 
last  interview  with  the  leader  of  the  Irish  Home  Rulers 
,  he  assured  them  of  his  belief  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of 
their  cause — a  cause  whose  success  was  mentioned  in  his 
prayers. 

The  Queen  offered  her  aged  public  servant  an  earldom 
on  his  retirement,  but  his  was  not  an  ambition  to  be 
pleased  with  such  empty  rewards.  In  his  beautiful  castle 
of  Hawarden,  surrounded  by  his  books  and  his  family,  he 
spent  the  years  which  remained  to  him  in  a  graceful  old 
age.  To  the  last  his  mind  remained  alert  and  active.  He 
busied  himself  with  the  classical  and  theological  studies 
which  had  been  the  delight  of  his  young  manhood,  and 
the  relaxation  of  his  active  years.  His  translations,  his 
controversial  pamphlets,  his  letters  on  public  questions, 
showed  the  refinement  and  vigor  of  his  remarkable  intel- 
lect. When  he  died  the  English-speaking  world  paid  a 
universal  tribute  of  respect  to  his  memory. 

In  linking  these,  biographies  with  certain  public  ques- 
tions or  events,  the  name  of  Gladstone  has  been  connected 
with  the  cause  of  Ireland — a  "lost  cause,"  as  some  may 
say,  because  Home  Rule,  which  was  to  have  been  the 
capstone  of  his  edifice,  was  rejected  by  the  builders.  But 
it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  it  was  Gladstone  who  swept 
away  the  burdensome  Irish  Church  and  improved  the  land 
laws,  the  franchise,  and  the  opportunities  of  education  in 
Ireland,  and  made  an  English  statesman's  name  beloved 
in  the  Emerald  Isle  for  the  first  time  since  Charles  James 


Gladstone  and  the  Irish  Question          165 

Fox.  Nor  should  his  great  work  for  Ireland  obscure  the 
grand  achievements  of  the  earlier  years  when  he  led  the 
Liberal  party  through  its  wonderful  program  of  reform  in 
England;  nor  should  any  prejudice  against  the  friend  of 
Ireland  dull  our  perception  to  the  clear  voice  which  so 
often  pleaded  the  cause  of  ignorance  and  oppression  at 
home  and  abroad,  and  touched  the  best  that  was  in  the 
conscience  of  his  countrymen.  A  good,  great,  learned, 
eloquent  statesman,  William  Ewart  Gladstone  towers  in 
moral  grandeur  above  his  fellows  like  a  mountain  peak 
above  the  foothills,  and  the  far-surrounding  plain. 


QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW 

1.  Why  has  Ireland  menaced  the  peace  of  England  for 
more  than  a  century  ? 

2.  What  events  led  up  to  the  organization  of  the  "  Young 
Ireland  "  Society  ? 

3.  What  results  had  the  Irish  famine  of  1846? 

4.  Describe  the  Fenian  agitations. 

5.  Give  an  account  of  the  early  career  of  Gladstone. 

6.  What  two   important  books  did  he   write   on   church 
affairs  ? 

7.  What  view  did  he  take  of  the  Anti-Corn  Law  bill  ? 

8.  How  did  he  clash  with  Disraeli  on  the  reform  move- 
ment of  1866  ? 

9.  To  what  three  grievances  of  Ireland  did  he  devote 
himself  ? 

10.  Describe  the  events  connected  with   the   disestablish- 
ment of  the  Irish  church. 

1 1.  What  did  he  secure  to  Ireland  by  the  Land  Act  of  1870  ? 

12.  What  other  reforms  were  carried   through   about  the 
same  time  ? 

13.  What  did  he  accomplish  by  his  letters  on  the  "Bulga- 
rian Atrocities  ? " 


1 66  Ten  Englishmen 

14.  What  difficulties  beset  his  attempts  at  reform  in  Ireland 
in  1880-85  ? 

15.  How  did  the  policy  of  Gladstone's  cabinet  toward  the 
Boers  and  General  Gordon  weaken  its  influence  ? 

16.  How  did  the  Irish  wing  of  Parliament  make  itself  felt 
under  the  new  Conservative  cabinet  ? 

17.  Describe  Gladstone's  Home  Rule  Bill  of  1886  and  its 
defeat  ? 

18.  What  new  attempt  at  Home  Rule  was  made  in  1893, 
and  with  what  result  ? 

19.  Sum  up  the  chief  services  of  Gladstone  to  his  coun- 
trymen. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Life  of  W.  E.  Gladstone.    Justin  McCarthy. 
Life  of  Gladstone.    G.  W.  E.  Russell. 
William  Ewart  Gladstone.    James  Bryce. 
A  Diary  of  the  Home  Rule  Parliament.     Henry  W.  Lucy. 
Yotmg  Ireland.    C.  G.  Duffy. 
Daniel  O1  Connell.    J.  A.  Hamilton. 

History  of  Legislative  Union  of  Great  Britain  aud  Ireland. 
T.  D.  Ingram. 


XI 

BEACONSFIELD  AND  THE   BRITISH   EMPIRE 

[BENJAMIN  DISRAELI,  Earl  of  Beaconsfield;  born,  London, 
December  21,  1804;  died,  London,  April  19,  1881;  baptized 
in  the  Church,  of  England,  1817;  privately  educated ;  studied 
law  in  a  solicitor's  office,  1821-24;  1825,  published  his  first 
novel  "Vivian  Grey";  1830-31,  traveled  in  Europe  and  the 
Levant;  his  novel  "  Contarini  Fleming  "  attracts  notice  1832; 
after  defeats  becomes  Member  of  Parliament  for  Maidstone 
1837;  marries  Mrs.  Wyndham  Lewis  1839;  leads  the  "Pro- 
tectionist" attack  on  Peel  1846;  leader  of  opposition  1849- 
52,  1852-58,  1859-66,  1868-74;  Chancellor  of  Exchequer  1852, 
1858-59,  1866-68;  Premier  1868,  1874-80.] 

The  expansion  of  the  English  domain  by  discovery  and 
colonization  or  by  war  and  conquest  has  been  one  of  the 
distinguishing  features  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The 
movement  may  be  said  to  have  begun  with  the  planting  of 
the  North  American  colonies  two  hundred  years  before. 
A  century  later  the  victories  of  Lord  Clive  and  the  adminis- 
tration of  Warren  Hastings,  the  empire-builder,  laid  a 
broad  foundation  for  British  dominion  in  India.  Before 
the  dawn  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  voyages  of  Cap- 
tain James  Cook  in  the  South  Pacific  had  opened  new 
doors  to  Anglo-Saxon  expansion  in  Australia,  New  Zea- 
land, and  the  neighboring  islands.  In  1806  England 
wrested  from  the  Dutch  the  sovereignty  of  Cape  Colony 
at  the  southern  extremity  of  Africa,  the  strategic  half-way 
station  on  the  main  traveled  sea-road  to  India  and  the 

167 


1 68  Ten  Englishmen 

East.  Gibraltar,  Malta,  and  Cyprus  in  the  Mediterranean, 
Aden,  Singapore,  and  Hong  Kong  in  the  Far  Eastern 
seas  were  acquired  and  fortified  in  order  to  protect 
British  commerce.  It  could  be  said  with  truth  that  the 
sun  never  set  upon  the  flag  of  England,  and  that  the 
morning  drum-beat  of  her  garrisons  saluted  the  sun  in  his 
daily  journey  around  the  world.  At  the  close  of  the 
century  the  foreign  possessions  of  Great  Britain  amounted 
in  area  to  ten  million  square  miles,  and  in  population  to 
three  hundred  and  fifty  million  souls. 

The  problems  which  have  sprung  from  this  vast  colonial 
empire  have  been  among  the  most  serious  which  English 
statesmen  have  been  compelled  to  face.  The  colonies  in 
America  and  Australia  were  English  in  blood,  language, 
and  institutions.  In  South  Africa  a  large  proportion  of 
the  inhabitants  were  Dutch  "Boers,"  transferred  with- 
out their  consent  and  against  their  will  to  a  foreign  sov- 
ereignty. In  India  and  Burma  the  English  established 
their  authority  and  maintained  it  by  force  of  arms  over 
teeming  native  populations  of  another  race  and  religion. 
How  to  hold  together  an  empire  so  vast  and  various ;  how 
to  adapt  administrative  methods  to  its  novel  and  changing 
needs;  how,  if  possible,  to  organize  the  incongruous 
multitude  of  dependencies,  colonies,  and  protected  states 
into  some  sort  of  federal  empire — these  are  among  the 
newer  problems  of  British  statesmanship. 

Americans  know  how  imperfectly  the  ministers  of 
George  III.  were  prepared  to  deal  with  such  problems, 
and  how  their  blundering  resulted  in  the  independence  of 
the  United  States.  The  lesson  of  1776  has  not  been  for- 
gotten, as  the  history  of  England's  conciliatory  policy 
toward  Canada  and  the  Australasian  commonwealth 


Beaconsfield  and  the  British  Empire      169 

abundantly  testifies.  Lord  Tennyson's  verses,  written  in  the 
year  of  the  Queen's  jubilee,  give  expression  to  the  altered 
relation  of  the  mother-country  toward  her  colonial  offspring : 

"  Britain  fought  her  sons  of  yore, 

Britain  failed;  and  nevermore, 
Careless  of  our  growing  kin, 

Shall  we  sin  our  fathers'  sin; 
Men  that  in  a  narrower  day  — 

Unprophetic  rulers  they — 
Drove  from  out  the  eagle's  nest 

That  young  eagle  of  the  West 
To  forage  for  herself  alone; 

Britons,  hold  your  own  ! 

"  Sharers  of  our  glorious  past, 

Brothers,  must  we  part  at  last? 
Shall  we  not  thro'  good  and  ill 

Cleave  to  one  another  still? 
Britain's  myriad  voices  call, 

'  Sons  be  welded  each  and  all 
Into  one  imperial  whole, 

One  with  Britain,  heart,  and  soul ! 
One  life,  one  fleet,  one  flag,  one  throne! 

Britons,  hold  your  own." 

Although  as  yet  no  statesman  has  arisen  who  has  been 
able  to  frame  a  plan  of  federation  which  should  weld  all 
into  "one  imperial  whole,"  the  idea  is  abroad,  and  has 
occupied  many  minds.  Perhaps  the  man  whose  pow- 
erful imagination  first  grasped  the  "imperial"  idea  and 
began  to  look  upon  Greater  Britain  as  having  common 
interests,  and  being  capable  of  assuming  common  respon- 
sibilities, was  Lord  Beaconsfield,  or  Benjamin  Disraeli — to 
use  the  name  by  which  he  first  came  into  public  notice. 
Death  hushed  his  active  mind  before  he  could  give  form 
and  substance  to  his  great  concept,  and  it  was  left  to 


Ten  Englishmen 

others  trained  in  his  school  to  propagate  the  idea,  and 
just  at  the  century's  close  to  demonstrate  its  significance 
and  worth.  Yet  what  he  did  for  England  through  a  long 
life  spent  in  conspicuous  public  service  renders  it  impos- 
sible to  exclude  him  from  any  list  of  Ten  Great  English- 
men of  the  nineteenth  century.  Nor  is  there  in  the  entire 
group  a  personality  more  interesting  than  that  of  the 
ambitious,  determined,  witty,  eloquent,  and  amazingly 
clever  Israelite  who  raised  himself  by  sheer  force  of  intel- 
lect from  an  object  of  ridicule  and  contempt  to  the  leader- 
ship of  the  hereditary  aristocracy,  membership  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  chief  minister  of  England,  friend  of  the 
sovereign,  and  arbiter  of  the  destinies  of  nations.  On 
that  January  night  in  1846,  when  Sir  Robert  Peel,  as 
Prime  Minister,  confessed  to  the  House  of  Commons  his 
conversion  to  the  theory  of  free  trade,  and  his  purpose  to 
repeal  the  Corn  Laws,  he  was  answered  by  Benjamin 
Disraeli  in  a  speech  which  for  bitterness  of  sarcasm,  bril- 
liancy of  wit,  and  savagery  of  denunciation,  has  seldom 
been  equaled  in  parliamentary  history.  (See  Appendix.) 
He  denounced  Peel  as  "a  man  who  never  originates  an 
idea;  a  watcher  of  the  atmosphere;  a  man  who  takes  his 
observations,  and  when  he  finds  the  wind  in  a  particular 

quarter  turns  his  sails  to  suit  it Such  a  man 

may  be  a  powerful  minister,  but  he  is  no  more  a  great 
statesman  than  the  man  who  gets  up  behind  a  carriage  is 
a  great  whip!"  Such  an  attack,  voicing  the  feelings  of 
the  Tory  protectionists,  and  coming  from  Peel's  own  side 
of  the  House,  at  that  critical  moment,  made  the  political 
fortune  of  the  speaker.  From  that  hour  Benjamin  Dis- 
raeli was  looked  upon  as  the  hope  of  the  remnant  of  the 
Tory  party,  which  could  no  longer  follow  Peel. 


Beaconsfield  and  the  British  Empire       171 

Disraeli  was  in  his  tenth  year  of  membership  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  He  was  a  descendant  of  a  line  of 
Spanish  and  Venetian  Jews  who  had  sought  refuge  in 
England  and  prospered  there.  His  father,  Isaac  Disraeli, 
had  broken  with  the  family  traditions,  devoting  himself  to 
literature  instead  of  getting  gain,  and  had  renounced  the 
faith  of  his  fathers.  The  son,  Benjamin,  was  baptized 
into  the  Church  of  England  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  edu- 
cated among  his  father's  books  and  in  private  schools,  and 
at  seventeen  articled  to  a  firm  of  London  solicitors. 
Instead.of  practicing  law  the  young  clerk  practiced  author- 
ship so  cleverly  as  to  make  a  sensation  in  his  twenty-first 
year  with  a  novel  "Vivian  Grey"  (1826),  the  first  of 
eleven  ("Young  Duke,"  1831;  "Contarini  Fleming," 
1832;  "Alroy,"  1833;  "Henrietta  Temple,"  1836; 
"Venetia,"  1837;  "Coningsby,"  1844;  "Sybil,"  1845; 
"Tancred,"  1847;  "Lothair,"  1870;  "Endymion," 
1880),  besides  several  long  poems,  burlesques,  and 
political  pamphlets,  and  "The  Life  of  Lord  George 
Bentinck."  "Vivian  Grey"  was  very  smartly  done, 
and  fashionable  London  was  captivated  by  its  clever 
satire  and  witty  dialogue.  On  the  profits  of  his 
earlier  books  he  traveled  extensively  in  Europe  and  the 
Levant,  where  his  Oriental  imagination  was  strongly 
stimulated.  Before  he  was  thirty  he  had  won  his  way 
into  the  most  exclusive  circles  of  London  society,  the 
vogue  of  his  novels  and  the  brilliancy  of  his  conversational 
powers  commending  him  to  the  "smart  set"  of  the 
metropolis.  His  determination  "to  be  somebody"  in 
spite  of  the  disadvantages  of  blood,  birth,  and  lack  of 
money  led  him  to  ridiculous  affectations — yet,  however 
ridiculed  at  the  time,  they  served  his  turn,  and  brought 


Ten  Englishmen 

him  the  notice  that  he  craved.  N.  P.  Willis,  who  saw  the 
much-talked-about  young  Israelitish  novelist  at  Lady 
Blessington's,  wrote  of  the  strange  vision:  "He  was 
sitting  in  a  window  looking  on  Hyde  Park,  the  last  rays 
of  sunlight  reflected  from  the  gorgeous  gold  flowers  of  a 
splendidly  embroidered  waistcoat.  Patent  leather  pumps, 
a  white  stick  with  a  black  cord  and  tassel,  and  a  quantity 
of  chains  about  his  neck  and  pockets  served  to  make  him 
a  conspicuous  object.  He  has  one  of  the  most  remark- 
able faces  I  ever  saw.  He  is  lividly  pale,  and  but  for  the 
energy  of  his  actions  and  the  strength  of  his  lungs,  would 
seem  to  be  a  victim  of  consumption.  His  eye  is  black  as 
Erebus,  and  has  the  most  mocking,  lying-in-wait  sort  of 
expression  conceivable.  His  mouth  is  alive  with  a  kind 
of  working  and  impatient  nervousness;  and  when  he  has 
burst  forth  as  he  does  constantly  with  a  particularly  suc- 
cessful cataract  of  expression,  it  assumes  a  curl  of  triumph- 
ant scorn  that  would  be  worthy  of  Mephistopheles.  His 
hair  is  as  extraordinary  as  his  taste  in  waistcoats.  A 
thick,  heavy  mass  of  jet-black  ringlets  falls  on  his  left 
cheek  almost  to  his  collarless  stock,  which  on  the  right 
temple  is  parted  and  put  away  with  the  smooth  carefulness 
of  a  girl. ' '  A  lady  who  met  him  at  dinner  described  him  as 
appareled  in  a  black  velvet  coat  lined  with  satin,  purple 
trousers  with  a  gold  stripe  on  the  outside  seam,  a  scarlet 
waistcoat,  lace  wristbands  to  his  finger  tips,  white  gloves 
with  flashy  rings  worn  outside.  Add  to  these  the  flowing 
black  ringlets,  and  do  not  wonder  that  his  hostess  told  the 
young  man  that  he  was  making  a  fool  of  himself.  Froude 
says  he  dressed  in  this  fantastic  guise  to  give  the  impression 
of  folly  so  that  his  sudden  displays  of  brilliancy  might  have 
the  more  striking  effect  coming  from  such  an  unlikely  source. 


Beaconsfield  and  the  British  Empire      173 

Self-esteem  was  abounding  in  the  young  Hebrew,  and 
he  did  not  hesitate  to  compare  himself  with  others  to  his 
own  advantage.  At  twenty-nine  he  wrote  his  sister  after 
an  evening  in  the  gallery  of  the  House  of  Commons, 

"Heard  Macaulay's  best  speech but  between 

ourselves  I  could  floor  them  all!"  Egotism  it  doubtless 
was,  but  it  sprang  from  no  empty  confidence  in  himself. 
The  time  was  not  distant  when  he  was  the  acknowledged 
master  of  the  House  which  looked  so  tempting  from  the 
galleries.  He  had  offered  himself  as  a  Tory  with  Radical 
ideas — a  combination  as  unusual  as  his  style  of  apparel 
— to  the  electors  of  High  Wycombe  in  June,  1832,  but 
was  beaten,  as  he  was  again  in  the  autumn.  It  was 
said  that  in  one  of  his  early  candidacies  he  replied  to  an 
elector,  who  had  asked  him  on  what  he  intended  to  stand, 
in  the  sententious  phrase  "on  my  head!"  In  1834  he 
stood  for  Taunton,  only  to  be  defeated  a  third  time. 
O'Connell,  who  had  helped  him  in  his  first  campaign,  was 
mortally  offended  by  Disraeli's  allusion  to  his  "bloody 
hand"  in  the  Taunton  canvass.  The  Irish  orator,  in  a 
bitter  rejoinder  at  Dublin,  denounced  Disraeli  as  a  Jewish 
traitor,  "the  heir  at  law  of  the  blasphemous  thief  that  died 
upon  the  cross." 

After  many  fruitless  struggles  the  coveted  seat  was 
won,  and  in  1837  Benjamin  Disraeli  entered  the  House  of 
Commons  for  Maidstone,  his  colleague  being  Wyndham 
Lewis,  the  friend  whose  good  offices  had  gained  him  the 
nomination.  Not  long  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Lewis,  in 
1838,  Mr.  Disraeli  married  his  lively  widow,  a  woman  to 
whose  devotion  not  less  than  to  her  ample  fortune  he 
owed  a  debt  of  gratitude  which  he  never  failed  to 
acknowledge. 


1 74  Ten  Englishmen 

Welcomed  to  the  ranks  of  the  Tory  opposition  by  Sir 
Robert  Peel,  the  ambitious  recruit  plunged  at  once  into 
oratory — only  to  have  his  maiden  effort  drowned  by  the 
jeers  of  his  hostile  hearers,  led  by  O'ConnelFs  "tail"  of 
Irish  members.  They  mocked  at  his  appeals  for  a  hear- 
ing, and  though  the  Tories  cheered  his  pluck,  he  could 
not  make  it  go.  "At  last,  losing  his  temper,  which  until 
now  he  had  preserved  in  a  wonderful  manner,  he  paused 
in  the  midst  of  a  sentence,  and  looking  the  Liberals  indig- 
nantly in  the  face,  raised  his  hands  and  opening  his  mouth 
as  widely  as  its  dimensions  would  admit,  said,  in  a 
remarkably  loud  and  almost  terrific  tone,  'I  have  begun, 
several  times,  many  things,  and  I  have  often  succeeded  at 
last;  aye,  sir,  and  though  I  sit  down  now,  the  time  will 
come  when  you  will  hear  me.'  ' 

Nor  did  he  ever  again  fail  to  get  a  hearing.  He  spoke 
often  and  to  the  point,  enlivening  his  solid  argument  with 
touches  of  wit  and  gleams  of  imagination  which  light  up 
the  dreary  pages  of  the  parliamentary  journals.  At  the 
first  he  was  the  steady  supporter  of  Peel,  but  this  clever 
man  of  ideals,  imagination,  and  insight,  could  have  little 
in  common  with  that  prosy,  plodding  man  of  business, 
whose  stronghold  was  in  the  esteem  of  the  plodding  mid- 
dle classes.  When  the  Tories  came  into  power  in  1841, 
with  Peel  as  Prime  Minister,  he  found  no  place  in  his 
government  for  the  supporter  whose  talent  all  parties  had 
now  begun  to  recognize.  The  slight  bred  coolness,  and 
as  Peel  began  to  veer  towards  free  trade  principles, 
Disraeli,  gathering  a  few  ardent  Tory  protectionists  about 
him,  made  himself  a  thorn  in  the  premier's  side.  His 
caustic  sayings  about  Peel's  acceptance  of  the  principles 
of  the  opposition  were  the  talk  of  the  clubs.  "The  right 


Beaconsfield  and  the  British  Empire       175 

honorable  gentleman,"  he  said,  "caught  the  Whigs 
bathing  and  he  walked  away  with  their  clothes."  He 
characterized  the  premier's  genius  as  "sublime  medioc- 
rity," amid  shouts  of  applause,  and  his  government, 
raised  to  office  by  protectionist  votes,  yet  steadily  pro- 
moting free  trade  measures,  he  branded  as  "organized 
hypocrisy."  His  hostility  to  the  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws 
was  based  not  so  much  upon  economic  argument  superior 
to  that  of  Cobden,  as  upon  his  fundamental  belief  that 
the  greatness  of  the  English  nation  in  all  past  centuries 
had  been  derived  from  the  wise  rule  of  the  aristocratic, 
land-owning  class,  and  a  fond  belief  that  the  retention  of 
the  tariff  upon  imported  agricultural  produce  would  sup- 
port this  ancient  pillar  of  the  constitution.  Furthermore, 
his  contention  that  England's  adoption  of  free  trade  would 
be  met  by  rival  nations  with  high  tariffs  against  imports 
of  English  goods  has  been  borne  out  by  the  facts  of  sub- 
sequent history,  against  the  confident  assertion  of  Cobden 
and  the  Manchester  school  of  economists  that  the  world 
would  soon  follow  the  lead  of  England  in  throwing  down 
all  artificial  barriers  to  the  exchange  of  commodities. 
Peel  carried  his  bill,  as  we  have  seen,  but  the  protection- 
ists wreaked  their  vengeance  by  overthrowing  his  govern- 
ment in  the  moment  of  victory. 

From  the  hour  of  his  defeat,  in  1846,  Sir  Robert  Peel 
was  no  longer  a  party  chief.  The  Tory  aristocracy  who 
had  lent  their  aid  to  the  fatal  coalition  against  him  were 
led  at  first  by  Lord  George  Bentinck,  but  the  real  director 
of  the  organization  was  Disraeli.  In  1849  he  succeeded 
to  the  formal  leadership  of  the  Conservative  opposition  in 
the  House  of  Commons,  and  in  1852,  when  the  Russell 
ministry  went  out,  he  took  office  under  Lord  Derby  as 


iy6  Ten  Englishmen 

Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  and  leader  of  the  House  of 
Commons.  The  Free  Trade  League  bristled  up  at  this 
resurgence  of  the  protectionist  champions,  but  Disraeli 
was  too  wise  to  invite  a  renewal  of  that  contest  which  the 
voice  of  the  nation  had  settled,  and  the  subject  was  left  to 
lapse  into  innocuous  desuetude  for  half  a  century.  Repre- 
senting but  a  minority  in  Parliament,  the  ministry  could 
maintain  itself  but  a  few  months.  December,  1852, 
found  the  Whigs  again  in  power,  where  they  remained 
until  1859,  Disraeli  using  his  talents  the  while  to  build  up 
and  consolidate  the  Tory  opposition  and  to  disintegrate 
the  discordant  elements,  Free  Trade,  Liberal,  Peelite,  and 
Radical,  who  rallied  under  the  government  banner. 

In  1858-59  the  Derby-Disraeli  ministry  enjoyed  a 
second  brief  lease  of  office,  and  after  the  long  Whig 
administration  of  Palmerston  and  Russell  (1859-66),  they 
succeeded  to  the  direction  of  affairs  for  the  third  time. 

Out  of  office  Disraeli  continued  to  entertain  Parliament 
with  the  audacious,  brilliant,  and  often  masterly  speeches 
which  he  alone  of  his  generation  could  deliver,  and  his 
short-lived  experiences  as  the  director  and  spokesman  of 
the  government  policy  equally  evidenced  his  administrative 
ability,  his  control  of  his  followers,  and  his  knowledge  of 
the  spirit  and  temper  of  the  Commons  and  the  nation. 

When  Benjamin  Disraeli,  the  young  novelist,  was  pre- 
sented to  Lord  Melbourne  at  a  social  gathering  in  the 
early  '3O's  his  lordship  had  graciously  asked  how  he 
could  serve  him.  To  which  the  flippant  young  man  had 
replied  that  he  would  like  to  be  Prime  Minister.  In  Feb- 
ruary, 1868,  the  resignation  of  Lord  Derby  raised  Mr. 
Disraeli  to  the  height  of  his  youthful  ambition.  He  was 
premier  until  December,  1868,  when  his  great  rival  and 


Beaconsfield  and  the  British  Empire      177 

former    party-associate,    Gladstone,    wrested    the    honor 
from  his  grasp. 

During  the  third  Derby-Disraeli  ministry,  the  Reform 
Bill  of  1867  was  passed.  Thirty- five  years  before  the 
Grey-Russell  Whigs  had  disfranchised  the  rotten  boroughs 
and  admitted  the  middle  class  people  of  the  towns  to  citi- 
zenship and  parliamentary  representation.  As  years 
passed  the  demand  increased  for  a  further  extension  of 
the  electoral  franchise.  The  Chartists  of  1848  demanded 
universal  suffrage  and  were  sternly  repressed.  After 
nearly  a  score  of  years  the  Gladstonian  Liberals  were  pre- 
pared to  gratify  this  demand  in  considerable  measure,  but 
before  they  could  fully  develop  their  policy,  they  were  out 
and  the  Conservatives  were  in.  It  was  at  this  juncture 
that  Disraeli  took  "the  leap  in  the  dark,"  carrying,  in 
1867,  an  act  "which,  in  its  inevitable  developments  must 
give  the  franchise  to  every  householder  in  the  United 
Kingdom;  and  he  gained  for  his  party  the  credit,  if  credit 
it  was,  of  having  passed  a  more  completely  democratic 
measure  than  the  most  radical  responsible  statesman  had 
yet  dared  to  propose."  His  accession  to  the  premiership 
evoked  fresh  testimony  to  his  popularity.  Mr.  Froude 
makes  no  concealment  of  the  attacks  which  were  made 
upon  him  by  open  foes,  or  the  disguised  contempt  of 
members  of  the  aristocracy  whose  pride  of  birth  had 
nevertheless  allowed  them  to  avail  themselves  of  his  talent 
for  leadership.  "Yet,"  says  the  same  biographer,  "when 
he  went  down  to  Parliament  for  the  first  time  in  his  new 
capacity,  he  was  wildly  cheered  by  the  crowds  in  Palace 
Yard.  The  shouts  were  echoed  along  Westminster  Hall 
and  through  the  lobbies,  and  were  taken  up  again  warmly 
and  heartily  in  the  House  itself,  which  had  been  the  scene 


iy8  Ten  Englishmen 

of  so  many  conflicts — the  same  House  in  which  he  had 
been  hooted  down  when  he  first  arose  to  speak." 

When  Gladstone's  first  administration  (1868-74)  had 
exhausted  its  volcanic  energies,  Disraeli  for  a  second  time 
became  the  chief  minister  of  the  Queen,  this  time  not  to 
finish  out  a  weakened  term,  but  with  a  clear  majority  at 
his  back,  and  with  the  confidence  of  the  Crown  and  the 
nation.  Internal  reforms  had  gone  far  enough  for  the 
time,  and  foreign  affairs  for  which  Mr.  Gladstone  had 
shown  less  aptitude  needed  attention  from  some  one  who 
could  reproduce  the  spirit  of  a  Canning,  a  Palmerston,  or 
a  John  Bull. 

The  statesmen  who  had  directed  the  affairs  of  the 
nation  for  the  past  thirty  years,  had  seen  little  to  be 
thankful  for  in  the  extensive  colonial  possessions  of  Eng- 
land. They  had  for  the  most  part  been  "Little  England- 
ers,"  to  use  a  term  of  recent  coinage,  and  while  using  the 
military  power  of  the  government  to  put  down  armed 
resistance  to  English  sovereignty  and  to  defend  the  integ- 
rity of  the  boundaries  of  the  distant  colonies,  had  done 
little  else  to  hold  the  fabric  together.  Some  of  the  most 
eminent  among  them  were  of  the  opinion  that  the  posses- 
sion of  the  colonies  was  an  element  of  weakness.  In  the 
pursuance  of  such  theories  the  English  commonwealths  of 
British  America,  Australia,  and  New  Zealand  were 
allowed  to  develop  forms  of  local  government  but  slightly 
removed  from  independence.  Their  constitutions,  ap- 
proved by  English  Liberal  cabinets,  allowed  them  to 
impose  duties  against  the  mother  country,  and  exempted 
them  from  most  of  the  burdens  of  taxation  and  military 
service  which  are  the  natural  incidents  of  dependence. 

Disraeli's  view  of  all  this  was  vigorously  expressed  in 


Beaconsfield  and  the  British  Empire       179 

1872.  "Gentlemen,  if  you  look  to  the  history  of  this 
country  since  the  advent  of  Liberalism,  forty  years  ago, 
you  will  find  that  there  has  been  no  effort  so  continuous, 
so  subtle,  supported  by  so  much  energy,  and  carried  on 
with  so  much  ability  and  acumen,  as  the  attempts  of 
Liberalism  to  effect  the  disintegration  of  the  empire  of 
England.  And,  gentlemen,  of  all  its  efforts,  this  is  the 

one  which  has  been  the  nearest  to  success Not 

that  I,   for  one,  object  to  self-government But 

self-government  when  it  was  conceded  ought  to  have  been 
conceded  as  part  of  a  great  policy  of  imperial  consolida- 
tion. It  ought  to  have  been  accompanied  with  an  imperial 
tariff,  by  securities  for  the  people  of  England  for  the 
enjoyment  of  the  unappropriated  lands  which  belonged  to 
the  sovereign  as  their  trustee,  and  by  a  military  code 
which  should  have  precisely  defined  the  means  and  the 
responsibilities  by  which  the  colonies  should  be  defended, 
and  by  which,  if  necessary,  this  country  should  call  for 
aid  from  the  colonies  themselves.  It  ought  further  to 
have  been  accompanied  by  some  representative  council  in 
the  metropolis,  which  would  have  brought  the  colonies 
into  constant  and  continuous  relations  with  the  home  gov- 
ernment. All  this,  however,  was  omitted  because  those 
who  advised  that  policy  looked  upon  the  colonies  of  Eng- 
land, looked  even  upon  our  connection  with  India  as  a 
burden  on  this  country,  viewing  everything  in  a  financial 
aspect,  and  totally  passing  by  those  moral  and  political 
considerations  which  make  nations  great."  Further  on 
in  the  same  speech  he  had  declared,  "in  my  opinion  no 
minister  in  this  country  will  do  his  duty  who  neglects  any 
opportunity  of  reconstructing  as  much  as  possible  our 
colonial  empire,  and  of  responding  to  those  distant  sym- 


180  Ten  Englishmen 

pathies  which  may  become  the  source  of  incalculable 
strength  and  happiness  to  this  land."  Yet  his  own  minis- 
try either  had  no  such  opportunity,  or  neglected  it,  and 
this  far-seeing  view  of  imperial  relations  was  bequeathed 
unfulfilled  for  the  guidance  of  those  who  were  to  come 
after. 

Disraeli's  six  years  of  government  were,  however,  sig- 
nalized by  a  series  of  exploits  which  restored  the  tarnished 
prestige  of  England  in  the  councils  of  Europe  and  doubt- 
less served,  however  indirectly,  to  increase  the  pride  of  the 
colonies  in  the  mother  country. 

When  the  ship  canal  was  constructed  by  de  Lesseps, 
connecting  the  Mediterranean  with  the  Red  Sea  and 
shortening  by  one-half  the  route  to  India,  the  project  had 
been  frowned  on  by  England.  In  1875  the  Khedive  of 
Egypt,  the  largest  stockholder  in  the  canal,  became  hard- 
pressed  for  funds,  and  a  telegram  from  Disraeli  bought  the 
entire  block  of  shares  for  the  English  government  for  four 
million  pounds.  This  stroke  secured  English  control  of 
the  waterway,  and  was  immensely  popular  with  the  nation. 
The  Prince  of  Wales  was  sent  with  great  pomp  on  a  tour 
of  India,  and  in  1876  the  Queen's  title  was  made  more 
imposing  by  the  addition  of  the  words  "Empress  of 
India."  The  latter  move  may  be  viewed  as  a  counter- 
stroke  against  recent  advances  of  the  Russians,  whose  dis- 
position to  raise  the  Eastern  Question  was  irrepressible. 
The  revolt  of  certain  Christian  states  of  Turkey  in  Europe 
had  revived  the  animosities  which  had  smouldered  since 
the  Crimean  War,  and  while  Russia  prepared  to  support 
the  claims  of  the  Christians,  Disraeli  again  ranged  Eng- 
land on  the  side  of  the  Turk.  The  Queen-Empress,  as  if 
to  give  personal  support  to  the  policy  of  her  Prime  Minis- 


"MOS£  IN  EGITTO!!!" 

Cartoon  from  Punch,  December  11,  1875,  hitting  off  Disraeli's  purchase  of 
the  Suez  Shares. 


Beaconsfield  and  the  British  Empire      181 

ter,  raised  him  to  the  peerage  with  the  title  of  Earl  of 
Beaconsfield  (1876). 

The  hatreds  and  intrigues  in  the  Balkan  peninsula  led 
to  a  bloody  war  between  Russia  and  Turkey.  It  soon 
became  evident  that  unless  saved  by  English  intervention, 
Constantinople  must  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Czar. 
Beaconsfield's  spirited  language  at  this  crisis  was  para- 
phrased in  the  London  music-halls  in  the  famous  couplet : 

"  We  don't  want  to  fight,  but,  by  Jingo,  if  we  do, 
We've  got  the  ships,  we've  got  the  men,  we've  got  the  money, 
too," 

a  song  which  gave  the  name  of  "Jingo"  to  the  war  policy 
of  the  Conservatives.  An  English  fleet  was  sent  to  Con- 
stantinople, and  England  refused  to  recognize  the  terms 
of  the  treaty  of  San  Stephano,  which  Russia  had  extorted 
from  her  conquered  foe,  and  demanded  that  the  Eastern 
Question  should  be  submitted  to  a  congress  of  the  powers. 
That  congress  was  held  at  Berlin  in  the  summer  of  1878. 
Prince  Bismarck  presided,  and  Lord  Beaconsfield  attended 
in  person,  accompanied  by  the  Foreign  Secretary,  Lord 
Salisbury  (since  premier).  The  provisions  of  the  Berlin 
treaty  are  too  complex  to  be  explained  here,  but  they 
removed  the  grip  of  Russia  from  the  throat  of  the  Sultan, 
and  established  a  group  of  Balkan  principalities  of  vary- 
ing degrees  of  autonomy.  "Peace  with  honor"  Beacons- 
field  announced  as  the  outcome  of  his  mission  to  Berlin, 
while  the  majority  of  the  nation  applauded. 

Beaconsfield's  star  culminated  at  the  Congress  of  Ber- 
lin. The  efforts  of  his  administration  to  defend  India  on 
the  side  of  Russia  by  strengthening  English  hold  on 
Afghanistan,  led  to  the  second  Afghan  War  with  its 
bloody  massacres  and  humiliating  episodes.  In  South 


1 82  Ten  Englishmen 

Africa  the  imperial  policy  gave  offense  to  blacks  as  well 
as  whites,  and  led  to  wars  which  reflected  little  honor 
upon  British  arms.  Hard  times  and  consequent  hardship 
among  the  agricultural  classes  at  home  combined  with  the 
petty  but  distressing  occurrences  in  Asia  and  Africa  to 
bring  about  a  Liberal  victory  at  the  general  election  of 
1880,  and  in  April  of  that  year  Beaconsfield  resigned  his 
portfolio  and  seals  to  his  great  rival,  Mr.  Gladstone. 

It  was  characteristic  of  the  man's  indomitable  energy 
to  signalize  the  year  of  his  fall  by  writing  another  novel, 
"Endymion,"  a  remarkable  feat  for  a  man  of  seventy-six 
years.  He  continued  to  appear  in  Parliament  until  near 
the  day  of  his  death,  which  took  place  in  London,  April 
19,  1 88 1,  on  the  night  following  Easter  Day. 

Among  the  eulogies  pronounced  in  Parliament  upon 
the  fallen  leader  none  was  more  satisfactory  in  its  expla- 
nation of  Disraeli's  remarkable  career  than  that  of  the 
Marquis  of  Salisbury,  who,  at  his  death,  succeeded  to  the 
chieftancy  in  the  Conservative  party.  "To  me,"  he  said, 
"as  I  believe  to  all  others  who  have  worked  with  him,  his 
patience,  his  gentleness,  his  unswerving  and  unselfish 
loyalty  to  his  colleagues  and  fellow-laborers,  have  made 
an  impression  that  will  never  leave  me  so  long  as  life 
endures.  But  these  feelings  could  only  affect  a  limited 
circle  of  his  immediate  adherents.  The  impression  which 
his  career  and  character  have  made  on  the  vast  mass  of 
his  countrymen  must  be  sought  elsewhere.  To  a  great 
extent,  no  doubt,  it  is  due  to  the  peculiar  character  of  his 
genius,  to  its  varied  nature,  to  the  wonderful  combination 
of  qualities  he  possessed,  and  which  rarely  reside  in  the 
same  brain.  To  some  extent  also  there  is  no  doubt  that 
circumstances — that  is,  the  social  difficulties  which 


Beaconsfield  and  the  British  Empire       1 83 

opposed  themselves  to  his  early  rise  and  the  splendid  per- 
severance by  which  they  were  overcome — impressed  his 
countrymen  who  love  to  see  exemplified  that  career  open 
to  all  persons,  whatever  their  initial  difficulties  may  be, 
which  is  one  of  the  characteristics  of  the  institutions  of 
which  they  are  most  proud. 

"Zeal  for  the  greatness  of  England  was  the  passion  of 
his  mind.  Opinions  might,  and  did,  differ  deeply  as  to 
the  measures  and  steps  by  which  expression  was  given 
to  the  dominant  feelings,  and  more  and  more,  as  life  drew 
near  its  close,  as  the  heat  and  turmoil  of  controversy  were 
left  behind,  as  the  gratification  of  every  possible  ambition 
negatived  the  suggestion  of  any  inferior  motives  and 
brought  out  into  greater  prominence  the  purity  and 
strength  of  this  one  intense  feeling  the  people  of  this 
country  recognized  the  force  with  which  this  desire  domi- 
nated his  actions.  In  the  questions  of  interior  policy 
which  divided  classes,  he  had  to  consider  them,  he  had  to 
judge  them,  and  to  take  his  course  accordingly.  It 
seemed  to  me  that  he  treated  them  always  as  of  second- 
ary interest  compared  to  the  one  great  question — how  the 
country  to  which  he  belonged  might  be  made  united  and 
strong!" 

The  party  to  which  Disraeli's  genius  gave  direction 
and  victory  came  again  to  power  after  the  defeat  of  the 
Gladstonian  schemes  for  the  relief  of  Ireland,  and  rein- 
forced by  the  Liberal-Unionist  contingent  under  Joseph 
Chamberlain  it  has  governed  England  for  nearly  twenty 
years.  Its  head,  Lord  Salisbury,  one  of  Beaconsfield's 
most  trusted  lieutenants,  has  been  true  to  the  ruling  ideas 
of  his  brilliant  chief.  The  idea  of  an  English  empire,  its 
parts  inspired  with  a  common  purpose,  has  been  zealously 


184  Ten  Englishmen 

nourished.  The  jubilee  (1887)  and  diamond  jubilee 
(1897),  of  Queen  Victoria's  reign,  were  seized  upon  to 
give  prominence  and  honor  to  the  colonial  representa- 
tives. The  premiers  of  the  colonies  have  met  in  confer- 
ence at  London  and  the  whole  vast  and  complex  problem 
of  federal  empire  has  come  under  discussion.  The  prob- 
lem is  still  far  from  solution,  but  that  the  relation  has 
passed  beyond  the  stage  of  mere  sentiment  is  shown  in 
many  ways.  The  joy  of  the  colonies  over  the  diamond 
jubilee  (1897),  their  united  grief  at  Victoria's  passing 
(1901),  their  welcome  to  the  son  of  Edward  VII.,  upon 
his  progress  around  the  world,  and  the  unanimity  with 
which  volunteers  sprang  to  the  aid  of  England  in  the 
South  African  War — this  response  of  English  hearts  in 
Canada,  Australia,  and  elsewhere  to  the  drum-beat  of  the 
empire  was  the  fulfillment  of  one  of  Beaconsfield's  imagi- 
native dreams.  A  writer  in  the  "Spectator"  two  years 
earlier  had  made  the  prophecy  which  in  the  century's  end 
came  to  be  realized: 

"  The  night  is  full  of  darkness  and  doubt, 
The  stars  are  dim  and  the  Hunter's  out: 
The  waves  begin  to  wrestle  and  moan; 
The  Lion  stands  by  his  shore  alone, 
And  sends  to  the  bounds  of  Earth  and  Sea 
First  low  notes  of  the  thunder  to  be. 
Then  East  and  West  through  the  vastness  grim, 
The  whelps  of  the'Lion  answer  him." 

QUESTIONS  FOR  REVIEW 

1.  What  different  elements  make  up  the  present  British 
Empire  ? 

2.  What  prominence  did  Disraeli  gain  from   his   speech 
against  Peel  in  1846  ? 


Beaconsfield  and  the  British  Empire      185 

3.  Describe  his  early  life  and  personal  appearance. 

4.  What  unsuccessful  attempts  did  he  make  to  enter  Par- 
liament ? 

5.  Describe  his  maiden  speech  in  the  House. 

6.  How  did  he  regard  Peel  and  the  Corn  Laws? 

7.  What  was  "the  leap  in  the  dark,"  which  he  took  in  1867? 

8.  How  had  the  statesmen  immediately  preceding  Disraeli 
looked  upon  English  colonial  possessions  ? 

9.  What  was  his  point  of  view  as  expressed  in  1872? 

10.  How  did  England  secure  control  of  the  Suez  Canal  ? 

11.  What  position  did  England  take  with  reference  to  the 
Russo-Turkish  War? 

12.  What  circumstances  led  to  the  overthrow  of  Disraeli's 
party  ? 

13.  What  was  Lord  Salisbury's  estimate  of  Disraeli  ? 

14.  How  have  Disraeli's  ideas  been  recognized  under  the 
Salisbury  government? 

15.  What  is  "jingoism"? 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Life  of  Beaconsfield.    J.  A.  Froude. 

Life  of  Lord  George  Bentinck.    Benjamin  Disraeli. 

Coningsby.    Benjamin  Disraeli. 

Imperial  Federation.    George  R.  Parkin. 

Problems  of  Greater  Britain.    Sir  C.  W.  Dilke. 


APPENDIX 


I.     WELLINGTON 
WATERLOO 

[This  dispatch  by  the  Duke  of  Wellington  touching  upon 
the  battle  of  Waterloo  is  in  his  usual  plain  and  straightforward 
manner.] 

To  Marshal  Lord  Beresford,  G.  C.  B.:  You  will  have 
heard  of  our  battle  of  the  1 8th.  Never  did  I  see  such  a 
pounding  match.  Both  were  what  the  boxers  call  "glut- 
tons." Napoleon  did  not  manceuver  at  all.  He  just 
moved  forward  in  the  old  style  in  columns,  and  was  driven 
off  in  the  old  style.  The  only  difference  was,  that  he 
mixed  cavalry  with  his  infantry,  and  supported  both  with 
an  enormous  quantity  of  artillery. 

I  had  the  infantry  for  some  time  in  squares,  and  I  had 
the  French  cavalry  walking  about  as  if  they  had  been  our 
own.  I  never  saw  the  British  infantry  behave  so  well. 

WELLESLEY. 

OPPOSITION  TO  REFORM 

[In  the  House  of  Lords  in  the  course  of  the  debate  on  the 
King's  Speech,  Nov.  2,  1830,  the  Prime  Minister,  the  Duke  of 
Wellington,  spoke  in  part  as  follows.  The  inflexible  Toryism 
of  the  speech  disgusted  the  country  and  led  to  the  defeat  of 
the  ministry.  Earl  Grey  came  into  power  and  carried  the 
Reform  Bill.] 

1 86 


Appendix  187 

This  subject  brings  me  to  what  noble  lords  have  said 
respecting  the  putting  the  country  in  a  state  to  overcome 
the  evils  likely  to  result  from  the  late  disturbances  in 
France.  The  noble  Earl  has  alluded  to  the  propriety  of 
effecting  parliamentary  reform.  The  noble  Earl  has, 
however,  been  candid  enough  to  acknowledge  that  he  is 
not  prepared  with  any  measure  of  reform,  and  I  can  have 
no  scruple  in  saying  that  his  Majesty's  government  is  as 
totally  unprepared  with  any  plan  as  the  noble  Lord. 
Nay,  I,  on  my  own  part,  will  go  further,  and  say,  that  I 
have  never  read  or  heard  of  any  measure  up  to  the  present 
rnoment  which  can  in  any  degree  satisfy  my  mind  that  the 
state  of  the  representation  can  be  improved,  or  be  rendered 
more  satisfactory  to  the  country  at  large  than  at  the 
present  moment.  I  will  not,  however,  at  such  an  un- 
seasonable time,  enter  upon  the  subject,  or  excite  discus- 
sion, but  I  shall  not  hesitate  to  declare  unequivocally  what 
are  my  sentiments  upon  it.  I  am  fully  convinced  that  the 
country  possesses  at  the  present  moment  a  legislature 
which  answers  all  the  good  purpose  of  legislation,  and 
this  to  a  greater  degree  than  any  legislature  ever  has 
answered  in  any  country  whatever.  I  will  go  further,  and 
say,  that  the  legislature  and  the  system  of  representation 
possess  the  full  and  entire  confidence  of  the  country — 
deservedly  possess  that  confidence — and  the  discussions  in 
the  legislature  have  a  very  great  influence  over  the  opin- 
ions of  the  country.  I  will  go  still  further,  and  say,  that 
if  at  the  present  moment  I  had  imposed  upon  me  the  duty 
of  forming  a  legislature  for  any  country,  and  particularly 
for  a  country  like  this,  in  possession  of  great  property  of 
various  descriptions,  I  do  not  mean  to  assert  that  I  could 
form  such  a  legislature  as  we  possess  now,  for  the  nature 


1 88  Appendix 

of  man  is  incapable  of  reaching  such  excellence  at  once; 
but  my  great  endeavor  would  be  to  form  some  description 
of  legislature  which  would  produce  the  same  results.  The 
representation  of  the  people  at  present  contains  a  large 
body  of  the  property  of  the  country,  and  in  which  the 
landed  interests  haVe  a  preponderating  influence.  Under 
these  circumstances,  I  am  not  prepared  to  bring  forward 
any  measure  of  the  description  alluded  to  by  the  noble 
Lord.  I  am  not  only  not  prepared  to  bring  forward  any 
measure  of  this  nature,  but  I  will  at  once  declare  that  as 
far  as  I  am  concerned,  as  long  as  I  hold  any  station  in 
the  government  of  the  country,  I  shall  always  feel  it  my 
duty  to  resist  such  measures  when  proposed  by  others. 

THE  LAUREATE'S  TRIBUTE 

[The  feeling  of  the  English  nation  toward  the  Duke  of  Wel- 
lington was  nobly  expressed  by  Tennyson  in  his  great  "  Ode," 
published  in  1852,  the  year  of  the  Duke's  death.] 

I 
Bury  the  Great  Duke 

With  an  empire's  lamentation; 
Let  us  bury  the  Great  Duke 

To  the  noise  of  the  mourning  of  a  mighty  nation — 
Mourning  when  their  leaders  fall, 
Warriors  carry  the  warrior's  pall, 
And  sorrow  darkens  hamlet  and  hall. 

II 

Where  shall,  we  lay  the  man  whom  we  deplore? 
Here  in  streaming  London's  central  roar. 
Let  the  sound  of  those  he  wrought  for, 


Appendix  189 

And  the  feet  of  those  he  fought  for 
Echo  round  his  bones  forevermore. 

Ill 

Lead  out  the  pageant,  sad  and  slow, 

As  fits  a  universal  woe; 

Let  the  long,  long  procession  go, 

And  let  the  sorrowing  crowd  about  it  grow, 

And  let  the  mournful  martial  music  blow; 

The  last  great  Englishman  is  low. 

IV 

Mourn,  for  to  us  he  seems  the  last, 
Remembering  all  his  greatness  in  the  past. 
No  more  in  soldier  fashion  will  he  greet 
With  lifted  hand  the  gazer  in  the  street. 
O  friends,  our  chief  state-oracle  is  mute  ; 
Mourn  for  the  man  of  long-enduring  blood, 
The  statesman-warrior,  moderate,  resolute, 
Whole  in  himself,  a  common  good. 
Mourn  for  the  man  of  amplest  influence, 
Yet  clearest  of  ambitious  crime; 
Our  greatest,  yet  with  least  pretense, 
Great  in  council  and  great  in  war, 
Foremost  captain  of  his  time, 
Rich  in  saving  common  sense, 
And  as  the  greatest  only  are, 
In  his  simplicity  sublime. 
O  good  gray  head  which  all  men  knew, 
O  voice  from  which  their  omens  all  men  drew, 
O  iron  nerve  to  true  occasion  true, 
O  fall'n  at  length  that  tower  of  strength, 


190  Appendix 

Which  stood  four-square  to  all  the  winds  that  blew^ 

Such  was  he  whom  we  deplore! 

The  long  self-sacrifice  of  life  is  o'er, 

The  great  world- victor's  victor  will  be  seen  no  more. 


VI 

Who  is  he  that  cometh  like  an  honored  guest, 
With  banner  and  with  music,  with  soldier  and  witt 

priest, 

With  a  nation  weeping  and  breaking  on  my  rest? 
Mighty  seaman,  this  is  he 
Was  great  by  land  as  thou  by  sea. 
Thine  island  loves  thee  well,  thou  famous  man, 
The  greatest  sailor  since  our  world  began. 
Now  to  the  roll  of  muffled  drums 
To  thee  the  greatest  soldier  comes; 
For  this  is  he 

Was  great  by  land  as  thou  by  sea; 
His  foes  were  thine;  he  kept  us  free; 
O  give  him  welcome,  this  is  he 
Worthy  of  our  gorgeous  rites, 
And  worthy  to  be  laid  by  thee; 
For  this  is  England's  greatest  son, 
He  that  gained  a  hundred  fights 
Nor  ever  lost  an  English  gun; 
This  is  he  that  far  away 
Against  the  myriads  of  Assaye 
Clashed  with  his  fiery  few  and  won; 
And  underneath  another  sun, 
Warring  on  a  later  day, 


Appendix  191 

Round  affrighted  Lisbon  drew 

The  treble  works,  the  vast  designs 

Of  his  labored  rampart -lines, 

Where  he  greatly  stood  at  bay, 

Whence  he  issued  forth  anew, 

And  ever  great  and  greater  grew, 

Beating  from  the  wasted  vines 

Back  to  France  her  banded  swarms, 

Back  to  France  with  countless  blows, 

Till  o'er  the  hills  her  eagles  flew, 

Beyond  the  Pyrenean  pines; 

Followed  up  in  valley  and  glen 

With  blare  of  bugle,  clamor  of  men, 

Roll  of  cannon  and  clash  of  arms, 

And  England  pouring  on  her  foes. 

Such  a  war  had  such  a  close. 

Again  their  ravening  eagle  rose 

In  anger,  wheel'd  on  Europe  shadowing  wings, 

And  barking  for  the  thrones  of  kings; 

Till  one  that  sought  but  duty's  iron  crown, 

On  that  loud  Sabbath  shook  the  spoiler  down; 

A  day  of  onsets,  of  despair! 

Dashed  on  every  rocky  square 

Their  surging  charges  foamed  themselves  away; 

Last  the  Prussian  trumpet  blew; 

Thro'  the  long  tormented  air 

Heaven  flashed  a  sudden  jubilant  ray, 

And  down  we  swept  and  charged  and  overthrew. 

So  great  a  soldier  taught  us  there 

What  long-enduring  hearts  could  do 

In  that  world-earthquake,  Waterloo! 

Mighty  seaman,  tender  and  true, 


192  Appendix 

And  pure  as  he  from  taint  of  craven  guile, 

O  savior  of  the  silver-coasted  isle, 

O  shaker  of  the  Baltic  and  the  Nile, 

If  aught  of  things  that  here  befall 

Touch  a  spirit  among  things  divine, 

If  love  of  country  move  thee  there  at  all, 

Be  glad  because  his  bones  are  laid  by  thine ! 

And  thro'  the  centuries  let  a  people's  voice 

In  full  acclaim, 

A  people's  voice, 

The  proof  and  echo  of  all  human  fame, 

A  people's  voice,  when  they  rejoice, 

At  civic  revel  and  pomp  and  game, 

Attest  their  great  commander's  claim 

With  honor,  honor,  honor,  honor  to  him, 

Eternal  honor  to  his  name. 


VII 

A  people's  voice!     We  are  a  people  yet, 
Tho'  all  men  else  their  nobler  dreams  forget, 
Confused  by  brainless  mobs  and  lawless  powers; 
Thank  Him  who  isled  us  nere,  and  roughly  set 
His  Briton  in  blown  seas  and  storming  showers, 
We  have  a  voice  with  which  to  pay  the  debt 
Of  boundless  love  and  reverence  and  regret 
To  those  great  men  who  fought  and  kept  it  ours. 
And  keep  it  ours,  O  God,  from  brute  control; 
O  statesmen,  guard  us,  guard  the  eye,  the  soul 
Of  Europe,  keep  our  noble  England  whole, 
And  save  the  one  true  seed  of  freedom  sown 
Betwixt  a  people  and  their  ancient  throne, 


Appendix  1 93 

That  sober  freedom,  out  of  which  there  springs 
Our  loyal  passion  for  our  temperate  kings ; 
For,  saving  that,  ye  help  to  save  mankind 
Till  public  wrong  be  crumbled  into  dust, 
And  drill  the  raw  world  for  the  march  of  mind, 
Till  crowds  at  length  be  sane  and  crowns  be  just. 
But  wink  no  more  in  slothful  overtrust. 
Remember  him  who  led  your  hosts; 
He  bade  you  guard  the  sacred  coasts. 
Your  cannons  molder  on  the  seaward  wall; 
His  voice  is  silent  in  the  council  hall 
Forever;  and  whatever  tempests  lour 
Forever  silent;  even  if  they  broke 
In  thunder,  silent ;  yet  remember  all 
He  spoke  among  you,  and  the  man  who  spoke ; 
Who  never  sold  the  truth  to  serve  the  hour, 
Nor  paltered  with  Eternal  God  for  power; 
Who  let  the  turbid  streams  of  rumor  flow 
Thro'  either  babbling  world  of  high  and  low; 
Whose  life  was  work;  whose  language  rife 
With  rugged  maxims  hewn  from  life; 
Who  never  spoke  against  a  foe ; 
Whose  eighty  winters  freeze  with  one  rebuke 
All  great  self-seekers  trampling  on  the  right : 
Truth-teller  was  our  England's  Alfred  named; 
Truth-lover  was  our  English  Duke ; 
Whatever  record  leap  to  light 
He  never  shall  be  shamed. 


194  Appendix 

IX 

Peace,  his  triumph  will  be  sung 

By  some  yet  unmolded  tongue, 

Far  on  in  summers  that  we  shall  not  see; 

Peace,  it  is  a  day  of  pain 

For  one  about  whose  patriarchal  knee 

Late  the  little  children  clung; 

O  peace,  it  is  a  day  of  pain 

For  one  upon  whose  hand  and  heart  and  brain 

Once  the  weight  and  fate  of  Europe  hung. 

Ours  the  pain,  be  his  the  gain! 

More  than  is  of  man's  degree 

Must  be  with  us,  watching  here 

At  this,  our  great  solemnity. 

Whom  we  see  not,  we  revere; 

We  revere,  and  we  refrain 

From  talk  of  battles  loud  and  vain, 

And  brawling  memories  all  too  free. 

For  such  a  wise  humility 

As  befits  a  solemn  fame: 

We  revere,  and  while  we  hear 

The  tides  of  music's  golden  sea 

Setting  toward  eternity, 

Uplifted  high  in  heart  and  hope  are  we, 

Until  we  doubt  not  that  for  one  so  true 

There  must  be  other  nobler  work  to  do 

Than  when  he  fought  at  Waterloo; 

And  Victor  he  must  ever  be, 

For  tho'  the  Giant  Ages  heave  the  hill 

And  break  the  shore,  and  evermore 

Make  and  break  artd  work  their  will; 


Appendix  195 

Tho'  world  on  world  in  myriad  myriads  roll 

Round  us,  each  with  different  powers, 

And  other  forms  of  life  than  ours, 

What  know  we  greater  than  the  soul? 

On  God  and  godlike  men  we  build  our  trust. 

Hush,  the  Dead  March  wails  in  the  people's  ears; 

The  dark  crowd  moves,  and  there  are  sobs  and  tears; 

The  black  earth  yawns;  the  mortal  disappears; 

Ashes  to  ashes,  dust  to  dust. 

He  is  gone  who  seemed  so  great — 

Gone;  but  nothing  can  bereave  him 

Of  the  force  he  made  his  own 

Being  here,  and  we  believe  him 

Something  far  advanced  in  state, 

And  that  he  wears  a  truer  crown 

Than  any  wreath  that  man  can  weave  him. 

Speak  no  more  of  his  renown, 

Lay  your  earthly  fancies  down, 

And  in  the  vast  cathedral  leave  him, 

God  accept  him,  Christ  receive  him! 


II.     GEORGE    CANNING 
POLITICAL   POETRY 

["The  Needy  Knife-Grinder,"  which  follows,  was  one  of  the 
most  notable  contributions  which  appeared  in  "  The  Anti-Jaco- 
bin.'  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  point  out  its  satire  upon  the 
humanitarian  sympathies  of  those  Englishmen  who  had  been 
carried  away  by  the  ideas  of  the  French  Revolution.  The 
verses — a  parody  of  Stanley's  "  Sapphics  " — were  the  joint  pro- 
duction of  George  Canning  and  John  Hookham  Frere.] 


196  Appendix 

THE   FRIEND   OF   HUMANITY   AND   THE 
NEEDY  KNIFE-GRINDER 

FRIEND    OF    HUMANITY 

Needy  knife-grinder!     Whither  are  you  going? 
Rough  is  the  road;  your  wheel  is  out  of  order; 
Bleak  blows  the  blast;  your  hat  has  got  a  hole  in't, 
So  have  your  breeches! 

Weary  knife-grinder!  little  think  the  proud  ones 
Who  in  their  coaches  roll  along  the  turnpike 
Road,  what  hard  work  'tis  crying  all  day  "Knives  and 
Scissors  to  grind  O!" 

Tell  me,  knife-grinder,  how  you  came  to  grind  knives? 
Did  some  rich  man  tyrannically  use  you? 
Was  it  some  squire?  or  parson  of  the  parish? 
Or  the  attorney? 

Was  it  the  squire  for  killing  of  his  game?     Or 
Covetous  parson,  for  his  tithes  distraining? 
Or  roguish  lawyer,  made  you  lose  your  little 
All  in  a  lawsuit? 

Have  you  not  read  the  "Rights  of  Man,"  by  Tom  Paine? 
Drops  of  compassion  tremble  on  my  eyelids, 
Ready  to  fall  as  soon  as  you  have  told  your 
Pitiful  story. 

KNIFE-GRINDER 

Story,  God  bless  you,  I  have  none  to  tell,  sir; 
Only  last  night  a-drinking  at  the  Chequers, 
This  poor  old  hat  and  breeches,  as  you  see,  were 
Torn  in  a  scuffle. 


Appendix  197 

Constables  came  up  for  to  take  me  into 
Custody;  they  took  me  before  the  justice; 
Justice  Oldmixon  put  me  in  the  parish 
Stocks  for  a  vagrant. 

I  should  be  glad  to  drink  your  honor's  health  in 
A  pot  of  beer,  if  you  will  give  me  sixpence  ; 
But  for  my  part  I  never  love  to  meddle 
With  politics,  sir. 

FRIEND    OF    HUMANITY 

I  give  thee  sixpence;  I  will  see  thee  damned  first, 
Wretch!  whom  no  sense  of  wrongs 
Can  rouse  to  vengeance! 
Sordid,  unfeeling,  reprobate,  degraded, 
Spiritless  outcast! 

[Kicks  the  K—g,  overturns  his  wheel,  and  exit  in  a  trans- 
port of  republican  enthusiasm  and  universal  philanthropy^ 

THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  ENGLAND. 

[The  following  extract  from  a  speech  on  Parliamentary 
Reform  affords  an  excellent  example  of  his  style  of  eloquence.] 

Other  nations,  excited  by  the  example  of  the  liberty 
which  this  country  has  long  possessed,  have  attempted  to 
copy  our  Constitution;  and  some  of  them  have  shot  beyond 
it  in  the  fierceness  of  heir  pursuit.  I  grudge  not  to 
other  nations  that  share  of  liberty  which  they  may  acquire  ; 
in  the  name  of  God,  let  them  enjoy  it !  But  let  us  warn 
them  that  they  lose  not  the  object  of  their  desire  by  the 
very  eagerness  with  which  they  attempt  to  grasp  it.  In- 
heritors and  conservators  of  national  freedom,  let  us,  while 


198  Appendix 

others  are  seeking  it  in  restlessness  and  trouble,  be  a 
steady  and  shining  light  to  guide  their  course;  not  a 
wandering  meteor  to  bewilder  and  mislead  them. 

Let  it  not  be  thought  that  this  is  an  unfriendly  or  dis- 
heartening counsel  to  those  who  are  either  struggling 
under  the  pressure  of  harsh  government,  or  exulting  in  the 
novelty  of  sudden  emancipation.  It  is  addressed  much 
rather  to  those  who,  though  cradled  and  educated  amidst 
the  sober  blessings  of  the  British  Constitution,  pant  for 
other  schemes  of  liberty  than  those  which  that  Constitu- 
tion sanctions,  other  than  are  compatible  with  a  just 
equality  of  civil  rights,  or  with  the  necessary  restraints  of 
social  obligations;  of  some  of  whom  it  may  be  said,  in 
the  language  which  Dryden  puts  into  the  mouth  of  one  of 
the  most  extravagant  of  his  heroes,  that 

"  They  would  be  free  as  nature  first  made  man, 
Ere  the  base  laws  of  servitude  began, 
When  wild  in  the  woods  the  noble  savage  ran." 

Noble  and  swelling  sentiments!  but  such  as  cannot  be 
reduced  into  practice.  Grand  ideas!  but  which  must  be 
qualified  and  adjusted  by  a  compromise  between  the  aspir- 
ings of  individuals,  and  a  due  concern  for  the  general 
tranquility;  must  be  subdued  and  chastened  by  reason 
and  experience  before  they  can  be  directed  to  any  useful 
end!  A  search  after  abstract  perfection  in  government 
may  produce  in  generous  minds  an  enterprise  and  enthusi- 
asm to  be  recorded  by  the  historian  and  to  be  celebrated 
by  the  poet;  but  such  perfection  is  not  an  object  of 
reasonable  pursuit,  because  it  is  not  one  of  possible 
attainment;  and  never  yet  did  a  passionate  struggle  after 
an  absolutely  unattainable  object  fail  to  be  productive  of 
misery  to  an  individual,  of  madness  and  confusion  to  a 


Appendix  199 

people.  As  the  inhabitants  of  those  burning  climates 
which  lie  beneath  a  tropical  sun  sigh  for  the  coolness  of 
the  mountain  and  the  grove,  so  (all  history  instructs  us) 
deviations  which  have  basked  for  a  time  in  the  torrid 
blaze  of  unmitigated  liberty  too  often  call  upon  the 
shades  of  despotism,  even  of  military  despotism,  to  cover 
them — a  protection  which  blights  while  it  shelters;  which 
dwarfs  the  intellect  and  stunts  the  energies  of  man,  but 
to  which  a  wearied  nation  willingly  resorts  from  intolerable 
heats  and  from  perpetual  danger  of  convulsion. 

Our  lot  is  happily  cast  in  the  temperate  zone  of  free- 
dom, the  clime  best  suited  to  the  development  of  the 
moral  qualities  of  the  human  race,  to  the  cultivation  of 
their  faculties,  and  to  the  security  as  well  as  the  improve- 
ment of  their  virtues;  a  clime,  not  exempt,  indeed,  from 
variations  of  the  elements,  but  variations  which  purify 
while  they  agitate  the  atmosphere  that  we  breathe.  Let 
us  be  sensible  of  the  advantages  which  it  is  our  happiness 
to  enjoy.  Let  us  guard  with  pious  gratitude  the  flame  of 
genuine  liberty,  that  fire  from  heaven,  of  which  our  Con- 
stitution is  the  holy  depository;  and  let  us  not,  for  the 
chance  of  rendering  it  more  intense  and  more  radiant, 
impair  its  purity  or  hazard  its  extinction. 


III.     GEORGE    STEPHENSON 

[The  bill  for  the  charter  of  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester 
railway  was  referred  to  the  Committee  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons, March  21,  1825.  The  canal  companies  had  employed 
able  counsel  to  oppose  it.  A  month  was  consumed  before  the 
company's  engineer,  Mr.  George  Stephenson,  was  called  by 


2OO  Appendix 

the  Committee.    The  following  account  of  his  first  day's  exam- 
ination is  from  his  fascinating  biography  by  Dr.  Samuel  Smiles.] 

On  the  2$th  George  Stephenson  was  called  into  the 
witness-box.  It  was  his  first  appearance  before  a  com- 
mittee of  the  House  of  Commons,  and  he  well  knew  what 
he  had  to  expect.  He  was  aware  that  the  whole  force  of 
the  opposition  was  to  be  directed  against  him;  and  if 
they  could  break  down  his  evidence,  the  canal  monopoly 
might  yet  be  upheld  for  a  time.  Many  years  afterward, 
when  looking  back  at  his  position  on  this  trying  occasion, 
he  said:  "When  I  went  to  Liverpool  to  plan  a  line  from 
thence  to  Manchester,  I  pledged  myself  to  the  directors 
to  attain  a  speed  of  ten  miles  an  hour.  I  said  I  had  no 
doubt  the  locomotive  might  be  made  to  go  much  faster, 
but  that  we  had  better  be  moderate  at  the  beginning. 
The  directors  said  I  was  quite  right;  for  that  if,  when 
they  went  to  Parliament,  I  talked  of  going  at  a  greater 
rate  than  ten  miles  an  hour,  I  should  put  a  cross  upon  the 
concern.  It  was  not  an  easy  task  for  me  to  keep  the 
engine  down  to  ten  miles  an  hour,  but  it  must  be  done, 
and  I  did  my  best.  I  had  to  place  myself  in  that  most 
unpleasant  of  all  positions — the  witness-box  of  a  parlia- 
mentary committee.  I  was  not  long  in  it  before  I  began 
to  wish  for  a  hole  to  creep  out  at!  I  could  not  find 
words  to  satisfy  either  the  committee  or  myself.  I  was 
subjected  to  the  cross-examination  of  eight  or  ten  barris- 
ters, purposely,  as  far  as  possible,  to  bewilder  me.  Some 
member  of  the  committee  asked  if  I  was  a  foreigner,  and 
another  hinted  that  I  was*mad.  But  I  put  up  with  every 
rebuff,  and  went  on  with  my  plans,  determined  not  to  be 
put  down." 

George   Stephenson    stood   before  the  committee    to 


Appendix  201 

prove  what  the  public  opinion  of  that  day  held  to  be 
impossible.  The  self-taught  mechanic  had  to  demonstrate 
the  practicability  of  accomplishing  that  which  the  most 
distinguished  engineers  of  the  time  regarded  as  imprac- 
ticable. Clear  though  the  subject  was  to  himself,  and 
familiar  as  he  was  with  the  powers  of  the  locomotive,  it 
was  no  easy  task  for  him  to  bring  home  his  convictions, 
or  even  to  convey  his  meaning,  to  the  less  informed  minds 
of  his  hearers.  In  his  strong  Northumbrian  dialect,  he 
struggled  for  utterance,  in  the  face  of  the  sneers,  inter- 
ruptions, and  ridicule  of  the  opponents  of  the  measure, 
and  even  of  the  committees,  some  of  whom  shook  their 
heads  and  whispered  doubts  as  to  his  sanity  when  he 
energetically  avowed  that  he  could  make  the  locomotive 
go  at  the  rate  of  twelve  miles  an  hour !  It  was  so  grossly 
in  the  teeth  of  all  the  experience  of  honorable  members, 
that  the  man  "must  certainly  be  laboring  under  a 
delusion ! ' ' 

And  yet  his  large  experience  of  railways  and  loco- 
motives, as  described  by  himself  to  the  committee,  entitled 
this  "untaught,  inarticulate  genius,"  as  he  has  been 
described,  to  speak  with  confidence  on  the  subject.  Be- 
ginning with  his  experience  as  a  brakesman  at  Killing- 
worth  in  1803,  he  went  on  to  state  that  he  was  appointed 
to  take  the  entire  charge  of  the  steam  engines  in  1813, 
and  had  superintended  the  railroads  connected  with  the 
numerous  collieries  of  the  grand  allies  from  that  time 
downward.  He  had  laid  down  or  superintended  the  rail- 
ways at  Burradon,  Mount  Moor,  Springwell,  Bedlington, 
Hetton,  and  Darlington,  besides  improving  those  at 
Killingworth,  South  Moor,  and  Derwent  Crook.  He 
had  constructed  fifty-five  steam-engines,  of  which  sixteen 


lol  Appendix 

were1  locomotives.  Some  of  these  had  been  sent  to 
France.  The  engines  constructed  by  him  for  the  work- 
ing of  the  Killingworth  Railroad,  eleven  years  before,  had 
continued  steadily  at  work  ever  since,  and  fulfilled  his 
most  sanguine  expectations.  He  was  prepared  to  prove 
the  safety  of  working  high-pressure  locomotives  on  a  rail- 
road, and  the  superiority  of  this  mode  of  transporting 
goods  over  all  others.  As  to  speed,  he  said  he  had 
recommended  eight  miles  an  hour  with  twenty  tons,  and 
four  miles  an  hour  with  forty  tons;  but  he  was  quite  con- 
fident that  much  more  might  be  done.  Indeed  he  had  no 
doubt  they  might  go  at  the  rate  of  twelve  miles.  As  to 
the  charge  that  locomotives  on  a  railroad  would  so  terrify 
the  horses  in  the  neighborhood  that  to  travel  on  horse- 
back or  to  plow  the  adjoining  fields  would  be  rendered 
highly  dangerous,  the  witness  said  that  horses  learned  to 
take  no  notice  of  them,  though  there  were  horses  that 
would  shy  at  a  wheelbarrow.  A  mail-coach  was  likely  to 
be  more  shied  at  by  horses  than  a  locomotive.  In  the 
neighborhood  of  Killingworth,  the  cattle  in  the  fields  went 
on  grazing  while  the  engines  passed  them,  and  the  farm- 
ers made  no  complaints. 

Mr.  Alderson,  who  had  carefully  studied  the  subject, 
and  was  well  skilled  in  practical  science,  subjected  the 
witness  to  a  protracted  and  severe  cross-examination  as 
to  the  speed  and  power  of  the  locomotive,  the  stroke  of 
the  piston,  the  slipping  of  the  wheels  upon  the  rails,  and 
various  other  points  of  detail.  Stephenson  insisted  that 
no  slipping  took  place,  as  attempted  to  be  extorted  from 
him  by  the  counsel.  He  said,  "It  is  impossible  for  slip- 
ping to  take  place  so  long  as  the  adhesive  weight  of  the 
wheel  upon  the  rail  is  greater  than  the  weight  to  be 


Appendix  203 

dragged  after  it."  There  was  a  good  deal  of  interrup- 
tion to  the  witness's  answers  by  Mr.  Alderson,  to  which 
Mr.  Joy  more  than  once  objected.  As  to  accidents, 
Stephenson  knew  of  none  that  had  occurred  with  his 
engines.  There  had  been  one,  he  was  told,  at  the  Mid- 
dleton  Colliery,  near  Leeds,  with  a  Blenkinsop  engine. 
The  driver  had  been  in  liquor,  and  put  a  considerable 
load  on  the  safety-valve,  so  that  upon  going  forward  the 
engine  blew  up  and  the  man  was  killed.  But  he  added, 
if  proper  precautions  had  been  used  with  that  boiler,  the 
accident  could  not  have  happened.  The  following  cross- 
examination  occurred  in  reference  to  the  question  of 
speed : 

"Of  course,"  he  was  asked,  "when  a  body  is  moving 
upon  a  road,  the  greater  the  velocity  the  greater  the 
momentum  that  is  generated?"  "Certainly."  "What 
would  be  the  momentum  of  forty  tons  moving  at  the  rate 
of  twelve  miles  an  hour?"  "It  would  be  very  great." 
"Have  you  seen  a  railroad  that  would  stand  that?" 
"Yea.""  "Where?"  "Any  railroad  that  would  bear 
going  four  miles  an  hour;  I  mean  to  say,  that  if  it  would 
bear  the  weight  at  four  miles  an  hour,  it  would  bear  it  at 
twelve."  "Taking  it  at  four  miles  an  hour,  do  you  mean 
to  say  that  it  would  not  require  a  stronger  railway  to  carry 
the  same  weight  twelve  miles  an  hour? "  "I  will  give  an 
answer  to  that.  I  dare  say  every  person  has  been  over 
ice  when  skating,  or  seen  persons  go  over,  and  they  know 
that  it  would  bear  them  better  at  a  greater  velocity  than 
it  would  if  they  went  slower;  when  they  go  quick,  the 
weight  in  a  measure  ceases."  "Is  not  that  upon  the 
hypothesis  that  the  railroad  is  perfect?"  "It  is;  and  I 
mean  to  make  it  perfect." 


2O4  Appendix 

It  is  not  necessary  to  state  that  to  have  passed  through 
his  severe  ordeal  scatheless  needed  no  small  amount  of 
courage,  intelligence,  and  ready  shrewdness  on  the  part 
of  the  witness.  Nicholas  Wood,  who  was  present  on  the 
occasion,  has  since  stated  that  the  point  on  which  Stephen- 
son  was  hardest  pressed  was  that  of  speed.  "I  believe," 
he  says,  "that  it  would  have  lost  the  company  their  bill  if 
he  had  gone  beyond  eight  or  nine  miles  an  hour.  If  he 
had  stated  his  intention  of  going  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  an 
hour,  not  a  single  person  would  have  believed  it  to  be 
practicable."  Mr.  Alderson  had,  indeed,  so  pressed  the 
point  of  "twelve  miles  an  hour,"  and  the  promoters  were 
so  alarmed  lest  it  should  appear  in  evidence  that  they 
contemplated  any  such  extravagant  rate  of  speed,  that 
immediately  on  Mr.  Alderson  sitting  down,  Mr.  Joy  pro- 
ceeded to  re-examine  Stephenson,  with  the  view  of  remov- 
ing from  the  minds  of  the  committee  an  impression  so 
unfavorable,  and'  as  they  supposed,  so  damaging  to  their 
case.  "With  regard,"  asked  Mr.  Joy,  "to  all  those 
hypothetical  questions  of  my  learned  friend,  they  have  been 
all  put  on  the  supposition  of  going  twelve  miles  an  hour; 
now  that  is  not  the  rate  at  which,  I  believe,  any  of  the 
engines  of  which  you  have  spoken  have  traveled?" 
"No,"  replied  Stephenson,  "except  as  an  experiment  for 
a  short  distance."  "But  what  they  have  gone  has  been 
three,  five,  or  six  miles  an  hour?"  "Yes."  "So  that 
those  hypothetical  cases  of  twelve  miles  an  hour  do  not 
fall  within  your  general  experience?"  "They  do  not." 

The  committee  also  seem  to  have  entertained  some 
alarm  as  to  the  high  rate  of  speed  which  had  been  spoken 
of,  and  proceeded  to  examine  the  witness  farther  on  the 
subject.  They  supposed  the  case  of  the  engine  being 


Appendix  205 

upset  when  going  at  nine  miles  an  hour,  and  asked  what, 
in  such  a  case,  would  become  of  the  cargo  astern.  To 
which  the  witness  replied  that  it  would  not  be  upset. 
One  of  the  members  of  the  committee  pressed  the  witness 
a  little  farther.  He  put  the  following  case:  "Suppose, 
now,  one  of  these  engines  to  be  going  along  a  railroad  at 
the  rate  of  nine  or  ten  miles  an  hour,  and  that  a  cow 
were  to  stray  upon  the  line  and  get  in  the  way  of  the 
engine;  would  not  that,  think  you,  be  a  very  awkward 
circumstance?"  "Yes,"  replied  the  witness,  with  a 
twinkle  in  his  eye,  "very  awkward — for  the  coo!"  The 
honorable  member  did  not  proceed  farther  with  his  cross- 
examination;  to  use  a  railway  phrase,  he  was  "shunted." 
Another  asked  if  animals  would  not  be  very  much  fright- 
ened by  the  engine  passing  at  night,  especially  by  the 
glare  of  the  red-hot  chimney?  "But  how  would  they 
know  that  it  wasn't  painted?"  said  the  witness. 


IV.     LORD    JOHN    RUSSELL 

THOMAS   MOORE   TO   LORD   RUSSELL 

[About  the  year  1816  Lord  Russell's  health  being  delicate  he 
was  rarely  in  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  even  ex- 
pressed his  determination  to  withdraw  from  public  life  alto- 
gether. This  "Remonstrance"  from  the  poet  Thomas  Moore 
is  valuable  at  least  for  the  view  which  it  gives  of  the  considera- 
tions which  impelled  the  scion  of  the  great  Whig  house  to  serve 
his  country.] 
What!  thou,  with  thy  genius,  thy  youth,  and  thy  name! 

Thou,  born  of  a  Russell,  whose  instinct  to  run 
The  accustom'd  career  of  thy  sires  is  the  same 

As  the  eaglet's  to  soar  with  his  eyes  on  the  sun; 


206  Appendix 

Whose  nobility  comes  to  thee,  stamp'd  with  a  seal 

Far,  far  more  ennobling  than  monarch  e'er  set; 
With  the  blood  of  thy  race  offer'd  up  for  the  weal 

Of  a  nation  that  swears  by  that  martyrdom  yet ! 
Shalt  thou  be  faint-hearted,  and  turn  from  the  strife, 

From  the  mighty  arena,  where  all  that  is  grand, 
And  devoted,  and  pure,  and  adorning  in  life 

Is  for  high-thoughted  spirits  like  thine  to  command? 
Oh  no!  never  dream  it;  while  good  men  despair 

Between  tyrants  and  traitors,  and  timid  men  bow, 
Never  think  for  an  instant  thy  country  can  spare 

Such  a  light  from  her  dark'ning  horizon  as  thou! 
With  a  spirit  as  meek  as  the  gentlest  of  those 

Who  in  life's  sunny  valley  lie  shelter'd  and  warm, 
Yet  bold  and  heroic  as  ever  yet  rose 

To  the  top  cliffs  of  Fortune,  and  breasted  her  storm; 
With  an  ardour  for  liberty,  fresh  as  in  youth 

It  first  kindles  the  bard  and  gives  light  to  his  lyre, 
Yet  mellow'd  e'en  now  by  that  mildness  of  truth, 

Which  tempers,  but  chills  not,  the  patriot  fire; 
With  an  eloquence,  not  like  those  rills  from  a  height, 

Which  sparkle  and  foam,  and  in  vapour  are  o'er, 
But  a  current  that  works  out  its  way  into  light 

Through  the  filt'ring  recesses  of  thought  and  of  lore: 
Thus  gifted,  thou  never  canst  sleep  in  the  shade; 

If  the  stirring  of  genius,  the  music  of  fame, 
And  the  charm  of  thy  cause  have  not  power  to  persuade, 

Yet  think  how  to  freedom  thou'rt  pledged  by  thy  name. 
Like  the  boughs  of  that  laurel,  by  Delphi's  decree, 

Set  apart  for  the  fame  and  its  service  divine, 
All  the  branches  that  spring  from  the  old  Russell  tree 

Are  by  liberty  claim 'd  for  the  use  of  her  shrine. 


Appendix  207 

ON  BRIBERY  AT  ELECTIONS 

[After  his  unsuccessful  contest  for  a  seat  in  the  House  of 
Commons  for  Huntingdon  in  1826,  Lord  John  Russell  drafted  a 
measure  for  the  prevention  of  bribing  and  sent  it  to  Lord  Al- 
thorp  with  a  letter  which  was  published  in  "The  Times  "  and 
attracted  much  notice.  The  following  passages  are  extracted.] 

Bribery  is  clearly  forbidden  by  the  law,  and  it  is  com- 
petent for  every  British  subject  to  petition  the  House  of 
Commons,  praying  them  to  inquire  into  any  particular 
instance  of  that  offense  which  may  have  occurred  under 
his  own  observation.  The  House  may,  if  it  thinks  fit, 
refer  such  a  petition  to  the  Committee  of  Privileges,  or 
to  any  other  committee  it  may  choose  to  appoint  for  the 
purpose. 

Bribery  in  a  candidate,  however,  makes  void  the  elec- 
tion, and  a  petition  complaining  of  bribery  committed, 
with  a  view  to  the  last  election  in  a  borough,  is  properly 
an  election  petition.  But  a  term  of  fourteen  days  is  the 
limited  period  within  which  a  petition  of  this  nature  can 
be  presented,  and  various  onerous  duties  are  imposed 
upon  the  petitioner — he  must  enter  into  a  recognizance 
to  pursue  his  complaint,  and  must  incur  an  expense  of 
some  hundreds  or  even  some  thousands  in  prosecuting  the 
inquiry. 

Still  this  mode  of  inquiry  is  now  so  established  that 
when  upon  two  or  three  occasions  complaints  have  been 
sent  to  me  of  bribery  in  a  particular  borough,  I  feared  to 
bring  them  before  the  House  of  Commons  lest  I  should 
be  told  that  the  petition  was  an  election  petition  which 
could  not  otherwise  be  entertained. 


2o8  Appendix 

From  this  state  of  things  great  impunity  has  been 
allowed  to  gross  acts  of  corruption.  A  gentleman  from 
London  goes  down  to  a  borough  of  which  he  scarcely 
before  knew  the  existence.  The  electors  do  not  ask  his 
political  opinions;  they  do  not  inquire  into  his  private 
character;  they  only  require  to  be  satisfied  of  the  impur- 
ity of  his  intentions.  If  he  is  elected  no  one,  in  all 
probability,  contests  the  validity  of  his  return.  His 
opponents  are  as  guilty  as  he  is  and  no  other  person  will 
incur  the  expense  of  a  petition  for  the  sake  of  a  public 
benefit.  Fifteen  days  after  the  meeting  of  Parliament  a 
handsome  reward  is  distributed  to  each  of  the  worthy  and 
independent  electors. 

This  is  the  practice  against  which  the  resolutions  of 
the  late  House  of  Commons  were  directed.  They  pledge 
the  House  to  inquiry  not  on  a  question  between  two 
rivals  contending  for  a  seat,  but  on  a  question  affecting 
the  character  and  purity  of  Parliament.  They  allow 
complaints  to  be  made  not  only  against  the  sitting  mem- 
ber, but  against  the  borough ;  they  enlarge  the  time  within 
which  such  complaints  may  be  made,  and  instead  of 
deterring  petitioners  by  expense,  they  provide  that  a 
specific  complaint,  if  fit  to  be  inquired  into,  shall  be 
inquired  into  for  the  sake  of  the  public  at  the  public  cost. 

Such  is  the  proposition  approved  by  the  late  House  of 
Commons,  and  which  I  venture  to  think  not  unworthy 
of  being  countenanced  by  a  Whig  reformer.  There  are 
many  other  abuses  in  our  present  mode  of  elections,  to 
which  local  remedies  might,  I  think,  be  successfully 
applied;  nor  is  there  any  one  more  fit  or  more  able  than 
yourself  to*  conduct  such-  measures.  Undoubtedly  many 


Appendix  209 

obstacles  would  be  raised  to  delay  our  progress,  especially 
on  the  part  of  "the  presiding  genius  of  the  House  of 
Lords."  But  I  am  persuaded  that  reformers  in  general 
have  never  made  a  sufficient  estimate  of  the  support  they 
would  receive,  or  set  a  sufficient  value  on  the  objects  they 
might  attain,  by  a  vigorous  attack  on  particular  abuses. 

THE  CHAMPION  OF  REFORM 

[Lord  John  Russell's  share  in  carrying  the  Reform  Act  of 
1832  was  celebrated  by  Lord  Lyttletori  in  the  following  lines.] 

In  England's  worst  days,  when  her  rights  and  her  laws 

Were  spurned  by  a  Prince  of  the  fell  Stuart  line, 
A  Russell  stood  forth  to  assert  her  lost  cause, 

And  perish'd  a  martyr  at  liberty's  shrine. 
The  smell  of  that  sacrifice  mounted  to  heaven ; 

The  cry  of  that  blood  rose  not  thither  in  vain; 
The  crime  of  the  tyrant  was  never  forgiven; 

And  a  blessing  was  breathed  on  the  race  of  the  slain. 
Dethroned  and  degraded,  the  Stuart  took  flight, 

He  fled  to  the  land  where  the  Bourbon  bore  sway, 
A  curse  clung  to  his  offspring,  a  curse  and  a  blight, 

And  in  exile  and  sorrow  it  wither'd  away. 
But  there  sprang  from  the  blood  of  the  martyr  a  race 

Which  for  virtue  and  courage  unrival'd  has  shone; 
Its  honors  still  worn  with  a  patriot  grace, 

Still  loved  by  the  people,  revered  by  the  throne. 
And  see  where  in  front  of  the  battle  again 

A  Russell,  sweet  liberty's  champion,  appears; 
While  myriads  of  freemen  compose  his  bright  train, 

And  the  blessing  still  lives  through  the  long  lapse  of 
years. 


2 1  o  Appendix 


V.     RICHARD   COBDEN 

[During  the  parliamentary  session  of  1846  when  the  bill  for 
the  repeal  of  the  Corn  Law  was  passing  through  its  parliamen- 
tary stages,  Mr.  Cobden's  letters  from  London  to  personal 
friends  and  to  his  wife  afford  frequent  glimpses  of  his  interest, 
his  suspense,  and  his  final  exultation.] 

"London,  February  iQth.  To  T.  H.  Ashworth: 
Your  letter  has  followed  me  here.  Peel's  declaration  in 
the  House  that  he  will  adopt  immediate  repeal  if  it  is 
voted  by  the  Commons,  seems  to  me  to  remove  all  diffi- 
culty from  Villiers's  path;  he  can  now  propose  his  old 
motion  without  the  risk  of  doing  any  harm  even  if  he 
should  not  succeed.  As  respects  the  future  course  of  the 
league,  the  less  that  is  said  now  about  it  publicly  the 
better.  If  Peel's  measure  should  become  law,  then 
the  Council  will  be  compelled  to  face  the  question,  'What 
shall  the  League  do  during  the  three  years?'  It  has 
struck  me  that  under  such  circumstances  we  might 
absolve  the  large  subscribers  from  all  further  calls,  put 
the  staff  of  the  League  on  a  peace  footing,  and  merely 
keep  alive  a  nominal  organization  to  prevent  any  attempt 
to  undo  the  good  work  we  have  effected.  Not  that  I  fear 
any  reaction.  On  the  contrary,  I  believe  the  popularity 
of  free-trade  principles  is  only  in  its  infancy,  and  that  it 
will  every  year  take  firmer  hold  of  the  head  and  heart  of 
the  community.  But  there  is  perhaps  something  due  to 
our  repeated  pledges  that  we  will  not  dissolve  until  the 
Corn  Laws  are  entirely  abolished.  In  any  case  the  work 
will  be  effectually  finished  during  this  year,  provided  the 
League  preserve  its  firm  and  united  position;  and  it  is  to 


Appendix  2 1 1 

prevent  the  slightest  appearance  of  disunion  that  I  would 
avoid  now  talking  in  public  about  the  future  course  of  the 
League.  It  is  the  League,  and  it  only,  that  frightens  the 
peers.  It  is  the  League  alone  which  enables  Peel  to  repeal 
the  law.  But  for  the  League  the  aristocracy  would  have 
hunted  Peel  to  a  premature  grave,  or  consigned  him  like 
Lord  Melbourne  to  a  private  station  at  the  bare  mention 
of  total  repeal.  We  must  hold  the  same  rod  over  the 
Lords  until  the  measure  is  safe;  after  that  I  agree  with 
you  in  thinking  that  it  matters  little  whether  the  League 
dies  with  honors,  or  lingers  out  a  few  years  of  inglorious 
existence." 

"May  i6th.  To  F.  W.  Cobden:  I  last  night  had  the 
glorious  privilege  of  giving  a  vote  in  the  majority  for  the 
third  reading  of  the  bill  for  the  total  repeal  of  the  Corn 
Law.  The  bill  is  now  out  of  the  House,  and  will  go  up 
to  the  Lords  on  Monday.  I  trust  we  shall  never  hear  the 
name  of  'Corn'  again  in  the  Commons.  There  was  a 
good  deal  of  cheering  and  waving  of  hats  when  the 
Speaker  had  put  the  question,  'that  this  bill  do  now  pass.' 
Lord  Morpeth,  Macaulay,  and  others  came  and  shook 
hands  with  me,  and  congratulated  me  on  the  triumph  of 
our  cause.  I  did  not  speak,  simply  for  the  reason  that  I 
was  afraid  that  I  should  give  more  life  to  the  debate,  and 
afford  an  excuse  for  another  adjournment;  otherwise  I 
could  have  made  a  telling  and  conciliatory  appeal.  Vil- 
liers  tried  to  speak  at  three  o'clock  this  morning,  but  I  did 
not  think  he  took  the  right  tone.  He  was  fierce  against 
the  protectionists,  and  only  irritated  them,  and  they 
wouldn't  hear  him.  The  reports  about  the  doings  in  the 
Lords  are  still  not  satisfactory  or  conclusive.  Many 
people  fear  still  that  they  will  alter  the  measure  with  a 


212  Appendix 

view  to  a  compromise.  But  I  hope  we  shall  escape  any 

further  trouble  upon  the  question I  feel  little 

doubt  that  I  shall  be  able  to  pay  a  visit  to  your  father  at 
midsummer.  At  least  nothing  but  the  Lords  throwing 
back  the  bill  upon  the  country  could  prevent  my  going 
into  Wales  at  the  time,  for  I  shall  confidently  expect  them 
to  decide  one  way  or  another  by  the  I5th  of  June.  I 
shall  certainly  vote  and  speak  against  the  Factory  Bill 
next  Friday." 

"May  1 8th.  To  Mrs.  Cobden:  We  are  so  beset  by 
contradictory  rumors,  that  I  know  not  what  to  say  about 
our  prospects  in  the  Lords.  Our  good,  conceited  friend 

told  me  on  Wednesday  that  he  knew  the  peers 

would  not  pass  the  measure,  and  on  Saturday  he  assured 
me  that  they  would.  And  this  is  a  fair  specimen  of  the 
way  in  which  rumors  vary  from  day  to  day.  This  morn- 
ing Lord  Monteagle  called  on  me,  and  was  strongly  of  the 
opinion  that  they  would  'move  on,  and  not  stand  in 
people's  way.'  A  few  weeks  will  now  decide  the  matter 
one  way  or  another.  I  think  I  told  you  that  I  dined  at 
Moffat's  last  Wednesday.  As  usual  he  gave  us  a  first- 
rate  dinner.  After  leaving  Moffat's  at  eleven  o'clock,  I 

went  to  a  squeeze  at  Mrs.  .  It  was  as  usual 

hardly  possible  to  get  inside  the  drawing-room  doors.  I 
only  remained  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  and  then  went  home. 
On  Saturday  I  dined  at  Lord  and  Lady  John's,  and  met 
a  select  party,  whose  names  I  see  in  to-day's  papers. 
....  I  am  afraid  if  I  associate  much  with  the  aristoc- 
racy, they  will  spoil  me.  I  am  already  half-seduced  by 
the  fascinating  ease  of  their  parties." 

"May  iQth.  To  F.  W.  Cobden:  I  received  your  let- 
ters with  the  enclosures.  We  are  still  on  the  tenter-hooks 


Appendix  213 

respecting  the  conduct  of  the  Lords.  There  is,  however, 
one  cheering  point:  the  majority  on  the  second  reading  is 
improving  in  the  stock-books  of  the  whippers-in.  It  is 
now  expected  that  there  will  be  forty  to  fifty  majority  at 
the  second  reading.  This  will  of  course  give  us  a  better 
margin  for  the  committee.  The  government  and  Lord 
John  (who  is  very  anxious  to  get  the  measure  through) 
are  doing  all  they  can  to  insure  success.  The  ministers 
from  Lisbon,  Florence,  and  other  continental  cities 
(where  they  are  peers)  are  coming  home  to  vote  in  com- 
mittee. Last  night  was  a  propitious  beginning  in  the 
Lords.  The  Duke  of  Richmond  was  in  a  passion,  and 
his  tone  and  manner  did  not  look  like  a  winner." 

"June  loth.  To  F.  W.  Cobden:  There  is  another 
fit  of  apprehension  about  the  Corn  Bill,  owing  to  the  uncer- 
tainty of  Peel's  position.  I  can't  understand  his  motive 
for  constantly  poking  his  coercive  bill  in  our  faces  at 
these  critical  moments.  The  Lords  will  take  courage  at 
anything  that  seems  to  weaken  the  government  morally. 
They  are  like  a  fellow  going  to  be  hanged  who  looks  out 
for  a  reprieve,  and  is  always  hoping  for  a  lucky  escape 
until  the  drop  falls." 

"June  i8th.  To  Mrs.  Cobden:  The  Lords  will  not 
read  the  Corn  Bill  the  third  time  before  Tuesday  next, 
and  I  shall  be  detained  in  town  to  vote  on  the  Coercion 
Bill  on  Thursday,  after  which  I  shall  leave  for  Man- 
chester. I  send  you  a  'Spectator'  paper,  by  which  you 
will  see  that  I  am  a  'likeable'  person.  I  hope  you  will 
appreciate  this." 

"June  23d.  To  Mrs.  Cobden:  I  have  been  plagued 
for  several  days  with  sitting  to  Herbert  for  the  picture  of 
the  Council  of  the  League,  and  it  completely  upsets  my 


214  Appendix 

afternoons.  Besides  jny  mind  has  been  more  than  ever 
upon  the  worry  about  that  affair  which  is  to  come  off 
after  the  Corn  Bill  is  settled,  and  about  which  I  hear  all 
sorts  of  reports.  You  must  therefore  excuse  me  if  I 

could  not  sit  down  to  write  a  letter  of  news I 

thought  the  Corn  Bill  would  certainly  be  read  the  third 
time  on  Tuesday  (to-morrow),  but  I  now  begin  to  think 
it  will  be  put  off  till  Thursday.  There  is  literally  no  end 
to  this  suspense.  But  there  are  reports  of  Peel  being  out 
of  office  on  Friday  next,  and  the  peers  may  yet  ride 
restive." 

"June  26th.  To  Mrs.  Cobden:  My  Dearest  Kate — 
Hurrah !  Hurrah !  the  Corn  Bill  is  law,  and  now  my  work 
is  done.  I  shall  come  down  to-morrow  morning  by  the 
six  o'clock  train  in  order  to  be  present  at  a  Council  meet- 
ing at  three,  and  shall  hope  to  be  home  in  time  for  a  late 
tea." 

A  CORN-LAW  RHYME 

[Ebenezer  Elliott,  "The  Corn-Law  Rhymer,"  contributed 
to  the  agitation  such  "  Songs  "  as  this.] 

Child,  is  thy  father  dead? 

Father  is  gone! 
Why  did  they  tax  his  bread? 

God's  will  be  done! 
Mother  has  sold  her  bed; 

Better  to  die  than  wed! 
Where  shall  she  lay  her  head? 

Home  we  have  none ! 


Appendix  a  1 

Father  clammed  thrice  a  week — 

God's  will  be  done! 
Long  for  work  did  he  seek, 

Work  he  found  none; 
Tears  on  his  hollow  cheek 

Told  what  no  tongue  could  speak! 
Why  did  his  master  break? 

God's  will  be  done! 

Doctor  said  air  was  best — 

Food  we  had  none; 
Father  with  panting  breast 

Groaned  to  be  gone; 
Now  he  is  with  the  blest — 

Mother  says  death  is  best! 
We  have  no  place  of  rest — 

Yes,  we  have  one! 


VI.     SIR    ROBERT    PEEL 

[On  the  night  when  the  bill  for  the  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws 
came  up  for  its  passage  in  the  House  of  Commons,  the  Prime 
Minister,  who  had  been  elected  on  a  protectionist  "platform," 
concluded  the  debate  in  a  powerful  speech,  which  culminated 
in  these  impressive  sentences.] 

THE  REPEAL  OF  THE  CORN  LAWS  (1846) 

This  night  is  to  decide  between  the  policy  of  continued 
relaxation  of  restriction,  or  the  return  to  restraint  and 
prohibition.  This  night  you  will  select  the  motto  which 
is  to  indicate  the  commercial  policy  of  England.  Shall  it 


216  Appendix 

be  "advance"  or  "recede"?  Which  is  the  fitter  motto 
for  this  great  empire?  Survey  our  position,  consider  the 
advantage  which  God  and  nature  have  given  us,  and  the 
destiny  for  which  we  are  intended.  We  stand  on  the  con- 
fines of  western  Europe,  the  chief  connecting  link  between 
the  Old  World  and  the  New.  The  discoveries  of  science, 
the  improvement  of  navigation,  have  brought  us  within 
ten  days  of  St.  Petersburg,  and  will  soon  bring  us  within 
ten  days  of  New  York.  We  have  an  extent  of  coast 
greater  in  proportion  to  our  population  and  the  area  of 
our  land  than  any  other  great  nation,  securing  to  us 
maritime  strength  and  superiority.  Iron  and  coal,  the 
sinews  of  manufacture,  give  us  advantages  over  every 
rival  in  the  great  competition  of  industry.  Our  capital 
far  exceeds  that  which  they  can  command.  In  ingenu- 
ity, in  skill,  in  energy,  we  are  inferior  to  none.  Our 
national  character,  the  free  institutions  under  which  we 
live,  the  liberty  of  thought  and  action,  an  unshackled 
press,  spreading  the  knowledge  of  every  discovery  and  of 
every  advance  in  science — combine  with  our  natural  and 
physical  advantages  to  place  us  at  the  head  of  those 
nations  which  profit  by  the  free  interchange  of  their 
products.  And  is  this  the  country  to  shrink  from  com- 
petition? Is  this  the  country  to  adopt  a  retrograde 
policy?  Is  this  the  country  which  can  only  flourish  in  the 
sickly,  artificial  atmosphere  of  prohibition?  Is  this  the 
country  to  stand  shivering  on  the  brink  of  exposure  to 
the  healthful  breezes  of  competition? 

Choose  your  motto.  "Advance"  or  "recede."  Many 
countries  are  watching  with  anxiety  the  selection  you  may 
make.  Determine  for  "advance,"  and  it  will  be  the 
watchword  which  will  animate  and  encourage  in  every 


Appendix  217 

state  the  friends  of  liberal  commercial  policy.  Sardinia 
has  taken  the  lead.  Naples  is  relaxing  her  protective 
duties  and  favoring  British  produce.  Prussia  is  shaken 
in  her  adherence  to  restriction.  The  government  of 
France  will  be  strengthened;  and  backed  by  the  intelli- 
gence of  the  reflecting,  and  by  conviction  of  the  real  wel- 
fare of  the  great  body  of  the  community,  will  perhaps 
ultimately  prevail  over  the  self-interest  of  the  commercial 
and  manufacturing  aristocracy  which  now  predominates  in 
her  chambers.  Can  you  doubt  that  the  United  States 
will  soon  relax  her  hostile  tariff,  and  that  the  friends  of 
a  freer  commercial  intercourse — the  friends  of  peace 
between  the  two  countries — will  hail  with  satisfaction  the 
example  of  England? 

This  night,  then — if  on  this  night  the  debate  shall 
close — you  will  have  to  decide  what  are  the  principles  by 
which  your  commercial  policy  is  to  be  regulated.  Most 
earnestly,  from  a  deep  conviction,  founded  not  upon  the 
limited  experience  of  three  years  alone,  .but  upon  the 
experience  of  the  results  of  every  relaxation  of  restriction 
and  prohibition,  I  counsel  you  to  set  the  example  of  liber- 
ality to  other  countries.  Act  thus,  and  it  will  be  in  per- 
fect consistency  with  the  course  you  have  hitherto  taken. 
Act  thus,  and  you  will  provide  an  additional  guarantee  for 
the  continued  contentment,  and  happiness,  and  well-being 
of  the  great  body  of  the  people.  Act  thus,  and  you  will 
have  done  whatever  human  sagacity  can  do  for  the  pro- 
motion of  commercial  prosperity. 

You  may  fail.  Your  precautions  may  be  unavailing. 
They  may  give  no  certain  assurance  that  mercantile  and 
manufacturing  prosperity  will  continue  without  interrup- 
tion. It  seems  to  be  incident  to  great  prosperity  that 


2i  8  Appendix 

there  shall  be  a  reverse — that  the  time  of  depression  shall 
follow  the  season  of  excitement  and  success.  That  time 
of  depression  must  perhaps  return;  and  its  return  may 
be  coincident  with  scarcity  caused  by  unfavorable  seasons. 
Gloomy  winters,  like  those  of  1841  and  1842,  may  again 
set  in.  Are  those  winters  effaced  from  your  memory? 
From  mine  they  never  can  be 

These  sad  times  may  recur.  "The  years  of  plenteous- 
ness  may  have  ended,"  and  "the  years  of  dearth  may 
have  come" ;  and  again  you  may  have  to  offer  the  unavail- 
ing expressions  of  sympathy,  and  the  urgent  exhortations 
to  patient  resignation 

When  you  are  again  exhorting  a  suffering  people  to 
fortitude  under  their  privations,  when  you  are  telling 
them,  "These  are  the  chastenings  of  an  all-wise  and 
merciful  Providence,  sent  for  some  inscrutable  but  just 
and  beneficent  purpose,  it  may  be,  to  humble  our  pride, 
or  to  punish  our  unfaithfulness,  or  to  impress  us  with  the 
sense  of  our  own  nothingness  and  dependence  on  His 
mercy,"  when  you  are  thus  addressing  your  suffering 
fellow-subjects,  and  encouraging  them  to  bear  without 
repining  the  dispensations  of  Providence,  may  God  grant 
that  by  your  decision  of  this  night  you  may  have  laid  in 
store  for  yourselves  the  consolation  of  reflecting  that  such 
calamities  are,  in  truth,  the  dispensations  of  Providence — 
that  they  have  not  been  caused,  they  have  not  been  aggra- 
vated, by  laws  of  man,  restricting,  in  the  hour  of  scarcity, 
the  supply  of  food! 


Appendix  2 1 9 

VII.    LORD    SHAFTESBURY 
INTRODUCTION  TO  THE   CAUSE   OF   LABOR 

[In  February,  1833,  when  the  failure  of  Michael  Sadler  to  be 
returned  to  Parliament  left  his  "Short  Time  Bill"  without  a 
champion,  Lord  Ashley  (afterwards  known  as  Lord  Shaftes- 
bury)  was  asked  to  lead  the  cause.  His  decision  was  thus  an- 
nounced to  the  local  "Short  Time  Committees"  in  the  manu- 
facturing towns.] 

Rev.  G.  S.  Bull  to  Short  Time  Committees. 

London,  February  6,  1833. 

Dear  Sir: — I  have  to  inform  you  that  in  furtherance 
of  the  object  of  the  delegates'  meeting,  I  have  succeeded, 
under  Mr.  Sadler's  sanction,  in  prevailing  upon  Lord 
Ashley  to  move  his  (Mr.  Sadler's)  bill. 

Lord  Ashley  gave  notice  yesterday  afternoon,  at  half- 
past  two,  of  a  motion  on  the  5th  of  March,  for  leave  "to 
renew  the  bill  brought  in  by  Mr.  Sadler  last  session,  to 
regulate  the  labor  of  children  in  the  mills  and  factories 
of  the  United  Kingdom,  with  such  amendments  and  addi- 
tions as  appear  necessary  from  the  evidence  given  before 
the  select  Committee  of  this  House." 

This  notice,  I  am  very  happy  to  say  (for  I  was  pres- 
ent), was  received  with  hearty  and  unusual  cheers  from 
all  parts  of  a  House  of  more  than  three  hundred.  No 
other  notice  was  so  cheered;  and  more  than  forty,  some 
of  them  very  popular,  were  given  at  the  same  time. 

I  am  informed  that  Lord  Ashley  received  many  unex- 
pected assurances  of  support  immediately  after  his  notice, 
and  has  had  more  since. 

Pray  call  your  committee  together  directly,  and  read 


lio  Appendix 

this  to  them.  As  to  Lord  Ashley,  he  is  noble,  benevo- 
lent, and  resolute  in  mind,  as  he  is  manly  in  person.  I 
have  been  favored  with  several  interviews,  and  all  of  the 
most  satisfactory  kind.  On  one  occasion  his  Lordship 
said,  "I  have  only  zeal  and  good  intentions  to  bring  to 
this  work;  I  can  have  no  merit  in  it,  that  must  all  belong 
to  Mr.  Sadler.  It  seems  no  one  else  will  undertake  it, 
so  I  will;  and  without  cant  or  hypocrisy,  which  I  hate,  I 
assure  you  I  dare  not  refuse  the  request  you  have  so 
earnestly  pressed.  I  believe  it  is  my  duty  to  God  and  to 
the  poor,  and  I  trust  he  will  support  me.  Talk  of 
trouble!  What  do  we  come  to  Parliament  for?" 

In  a  letter  he  writes:  "To  me  it  appeared  an  affair, 
less  of  policy  than  of  religion,  and  I  determined,  therefore, 
at  all  hazards  to  myself,  to  do  what  I  could  in  furtherance 
of  the  views  of  that  virtuous  and  amiable  man"  (meaning 
Mr.  Sadler). 

I  have  just  left  his  Lordship,  and  find  him  more  deter- 
mined than  ever.  He  says,  it  is  your  cause ;  if  you  sup- 
port him,  he  will  never  flinch. 

Yours  most  faithfully,  G.  S.  BULL. 

THE  MOTIVES  OF  A  REFORMER 

[To  Richard  Oastler,  a  zealous  leader  of  the  working-people 
outside  of  Parliament,  who  had  pledged  him  his  support,  Lord 
Ashley  wrote  this  characteristic  letter.] 

Lord  Ashley  to  Mr.  Richard  Oastler. 

February  16,  1833. 

Dear  Sir: — I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  kind 
and  energetic  letter;  much,  very  much,  is  owing  to  your 
humanity  and  zeal,  and  though  I  cannot  reckon  deeply  on 


Appendix  221 

the  gratitude  of  multitudes,  yet  I  will  hope  that  your 
name  will,  for  years  to  come,  be  blessed  by  those  children 
who  have  suffered,  or  would  have  suffered,  the  tortures 
of  a  factory.  It  is  very  cruel  upon  Mr.  Sadler  that  he  is 
debarred  from  the  joy  of  putting  the  crown  on  his  beloved 
measure;  however,  his  must  be  the  honor,  though  another 
may  complete  it;  and  for  my  part,  I  feel  that,  if  I  were  to 
believe  that  my  exertions  ought  to  detract  the  millionth 
part  from  his  merits,  I  should  be  one  of  the  most  unprin- 
cipled and  contemptible  of  mankind.  Ask  the  question 
simply,  Who  has  borne  the  real  evil,  who  has  encountered 
the  real  opposition,  who  roused  the  sluggish  public  to  senti- 
ments of  honor  and  pity?  Why,  Mr.  Sadler;  and  I  come 
in  (supposing  I  succeed)  to  terminate  in  the  twelfth  hour 
his  labor  of  the  eleven.  I  greatly  fear  my  ability  to  carry 
on  this  measure.  I  wish,  most  ardently  I  wish,  that  some 
other  had  been  found  to  undertake  the  cause;  nothing 
but  the  apprehension  of  its  being  Ipst  induced  me  to 
acquiesce  in  Mr.  Bull's  request.  I  entertain  such  strong 
opinions  on  the  matter  that  I  did  not  dare,  as  a  Christian, 
to  let  my  diffidence,  or  love  of  ease,  prevail  over  the 
demands  of  morality  and  religion.  Yours, 

ASHLEY. 

THE  DIARY  OF  A  PHILANTHROPIST 

[Lord  Shaftesbury's  copious  diaries  were  not  intended  for 
publication,  but  late  in  life  he  permitted  Mr.  Hodder  to  intro- 
duce selections  from  them  in  his  authorized  Biography.  These 
extracts  from  the  period  when  he  was  fighting  the  cause  of  the 
London  chimney-sweeps,  reflect  the  spirit  of  the  great  philan- 
thropist, the  legislator  who  at  twenty-five  proposed  "  to  found 
a  public  policy  upon  the  principles  of  the  Bible."] 

July  4th.     Anxious,  very  anxious,  about  my  sweeps; 


222  Appendix 

the  Conservative  (?)  Peers  threaten  a  fierce  opposition, 
and  the  Radical  Ministers  warmly  support  the  bill.  Nor- 
manby  has  been  manly,  open,  kind-hearted,  and  firm. 
As  I  said  to  him  in  a  letter,  so  say  I  now,  "God  help  him 
with  the  bill,  and  God  bless  him  for  it ! "  I  shall  have  no 
ease  or  pleasure  in  the  recess,  should  these  poor  children 
be  despised  by  the  Lords,  and  tossed  to  the  mercy  of  their 
savage  purchasers.  I  find  that  Evangelical  religionists 
are  not  those  on  whom  I  can  rely.  The  Factory  Ques- 
tion, and  every  question  for  what  is  called  "humanity," 
receive  as  much  support  from  the  "men  of  the  world" 
as  from  the  men  who  say  they,  will  have  nothing  to  do 
with  it! 

I  do  not  wonder  at  the  Duke  of  Wellington — I  have 
never  expected  from  him  anything  of  the  "soft  and 
tender"  kind.  Let  people  say  what  they  will,  he  is  a  hard 
man.  Steven  tells  me  he  left  the  Oxford  Petition  at 
Apsley  House,  thinking  that  the  Duke,  as  Chancellor, 
would  present  it;  he  received  this  answer,  "Mr.  Steven 
has  thought  fit  to  leave  some  petitions  at  Apsley  House; 
they  will  be  found  with  the  porter." 

July  2 1  st.  Much  anxiety,  hard  labor,  many  hopes,  and 
many  fears,  all  rendered  useless  by  "counting  out  the 
House."  The  object  of  years  within  my  grasp,  and  put 
aside  in  a  moment.  A  notice  to  investigate  the  condition 
of  all  the  wretched  and  helpless  children  in  pin-works, 
needle-works,  collieries,  etc.  The  necessary  and  bene- 
ficial consequence  of  the  Factory  Question!  God  knows 
I  had  felt  for  it,  and  prayed  for  it;  but  the  day  arrived; 
everything  seemed  adverse — a  morning  sitting,  a  late  period 
of  the  session,  and  a  wet  afternoon;  and  true  enough,  at 
five  o'clock  there  were  but  thirty-seven  members,  and 


Appendix  223 

these  mostly  Radicals  or  Whigs.  Shall  I  have  another 
opportunity?  The  inquiry,  without  a  statement  in  Parlia- 
ment, will  be  but  half  the  battle,  nay,  not  so  much — I 
must  have  public  knowledge  and  public  opinion  working 
with  it.  Well,  it  is  God's  cause,  and  I  commit  it  alto- 
gether to  him.  I  am,  however,  sadly  disappointed,  but 
how  weak  and  short-sighted  is  man!  This  temporary 
failure  may  be  the  harbinger  of  success. 

August  24th.  Succeeded  in  both  my  suits.  I  under- 
took them  in  a  spirit  of  justice.  I  constituted  myself,  no 
doubt,  a  defender  of  the  poor,  to  see  that  the  poor  and 
miserable  had  their  rights;  but  "I  looked,  and  there  was 
none  to  help.  I  wondered  that  there  was  none  to  uphold; 
therefore  God's  arm,  it  brought  salvation  to  me,  and  his 
fury,  it  upheld  me."  I  stood  to  lose  several  hundred 
pounds,  but  I  have  not  lost  a  farthing;  I  have  advanced 
the  cause,  done  individual  justice,  anticipated  many 
calamities  by  this  forced  prevention,  and  soothed,  I  hope, 
many  angry,  discontented  Chartist  spirits  by  showing  them 
that  men  of  rank  and  property  can,  and  do,  care  for  the 
rights  and  feelings  of  all  their  brethren.  Let  no  one  ever 
despair  of  a  good  cause  for  want  of  coadjutors;  let  him 
persevere,  persevere,  persevere,  and  God  will  raise  him 
up  friends  and  assistants!  I  have  had,  and  still  have, 
Jowett  and  Low;  they  are  matchless. 

September  i6th.  I  hear  encouraging  things,  both  of 
my  speech  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  of  my  suit  v. 
Stocks.  The  justice  of  the  suit  is  so  manifest  that  even 
(so  to  speak)  "my  enemies  are  at  peace  with  me." 
What  man  ever  lost  in  the  long  run  by  seeking  God's 
honor? 

September  igih.     Steven  wrote  to  me  yesterday,  and 


224  Appendix 

gave  me  information  that  he  had  at  last  succeeded  in 
negotiating  the  delivery  of  the  wretched  sweep  behind  my 
house  in  London.  I  had  begun  to  negotiate,  but  the 
master  stood  out  for  more  money  than  was  fair,  and  we 
determined  to  seek  the  unnatural  father  of  the  boy,  and 
tempt  him,  by  the  offer  of  a  gratuitous  education.  We 
have  done  so,  and  have  prospered;  and  the  child  will  this 
day  be  conveyed  from  his  soot-hole  to  the  Union  School 
on  Norwood  Hill,  where,  under  God's  blessing  and  espe- 
cial, merciful  grace,  he  will  be  trained  in  the  knowledge, 
and  love,  and  faith  of  our  common  Lord  and  only  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ.  I  entertain  hopes  of  the  boy;  he  is  described 
as  gentle,  and  of  a  sweet  disposition;  we  all  know  he  has 
suffered,  and  were  eager  to  rescue  him  from  his  temporal 
and  spiritual  tyrant.  May  God,  in  his  unbounded  good- 
ness and  mercy,  accept  and  defend  the  child,  and  train 
him  up  to  his  honor  and  service,  now  and  forever,  through 
the  mediation  and  love  of  our  dear  and  blessed  Lord! 


THE  CRY  OF  THE  CHILDREN 
[Mrs  Browning's  poem  belongs  to  this  epoch  and  agitation.] 

Do  you  hear  the  children  weeping,  Oh,  my  brothers, 

Ere  the  sorrow  comes  with  years? 
They  are  leaning  their  young  heads  against  their  mothers, 

And  that  cannot  stop  their  tears. 
The  young  lambs  are  bleating  in  the  meadows, 

The  young  birds  are  chirping  in  the  nest, 
The  young  fawns  are  playing  with  the  shadows, 

The  young  flowers  are  blowing  towards  the  west; 


Appendix  225 

But  the  young,  young  children,  Oh,  my  brothers, 

They  are  weeping  bitterly! 
They  are  weeping  in  the  play-time  of  the  others, 

In  the  country  of  the  free. 
Do  you  question  the  young  children  in  the  sorrow, 

Why  their  tears  are  falling  so? 
The  old  man  may  weep  for  his  to-morrow, 

Which  is  lost  in  long  ago; 
The  old  tree  is  leafless  in  the  forest, 

The  old  year  is  ending  in  the  frost, 
The  old  wound,  if  stricken,  is  the  sorest, 

The  old  hope  is  hardest  to  be  lost! 

But  the  young,  young  children,  Oh,  my  brothers, 

Do  you  ask  them  why  they  stand 
Weeping  sore  before  the  bosoms  of  their  mothers 

In  our  happy  fatherland  ? 
They  look  up  with  their  pale  and  sunken  faces, 

And  their  looks  are  sad  to  see, 
For  the  man's  hoary  anguish  draws  and  presses 

Down  the  cheeks  of  infancy; 
"Your  old  earth,"  they  say,  "is  very  dreary," 

"Our  young  feet,"  they  say,  "are  very  weak; 
Few  paces  have  we  taken,  yet  are  weary — 

Our  grave-rest  is  very  far  to  seek; 
Ask  the  aged  why  they  weep,  and  not  the  children, 

For  the  outside  earth  is  cold, 
And  we  young  ones  stand  without  in  our  bewildering, 

And  the  graves  are  for  the  old." 


226  Appendix 

"True,"  say  the  children,  "it  may  happen 

That  we  die  before  our  time; 
Little  Alice  died  last  year,  her  grave  is  shapen 

Like  a  snowball  in  the  rime. 
We  looked  into  the  pit  prepared  to  take  her; 

Was  no  room  for  any  work  in  the  close  clay! 
From  the  sleep  wherein  she  lieth  none  will  wake  her, 

Crying,  'Get  up,  little  Alice,  it  is  day.' 
If  you  listen  by  that  grave  in  sun  and  shower 

With  your  ear  down,  little  Alice  never  cries; 
Could  we  see  her  face,  be  sure  we  could  not  know  her, 

For  the  smile  has  time  for  growing  in  her  eyes! 
And  merry  go  her  moments,  lull'd  and  still'd  in 

The  shroud  by  the  kirk  chime. 
It  is  good  when  it  happens,"  say  the  children, 

"That  we  die  before  our  time. 

Alas!  Alas!  the  children!     They  are  seeking 

Death  in  life,  as  best  to  have; 
They  are  binding  up  their  hearts  away  from  breaking 

With  a  cerement  from  the  grave. 
Go  out,  children,  from  the  mine  and  from  the  city; 

Sing  out,  children,  as  the  thrushes  do; 
Pluck  your  handfuls  of  the  meadow  cowslips  pretty, 

Laugh  aloud  to  feel  your  fingers  let  them  through! 
But  they  answer,  "Are  your  cowslips  of  the  meadows 

Like  our  weeds  anear  the  mine? 
Leave  us  quiet  in  the  dark  of  the  coal-shadows, 

From  your  pleasures  fair  and  fine ! 
For  oh,"  say  the  children,  "we  are  weary, 

And  we  cannot  run  or  leap; 
If  we  car'd  for  any  meadows  it  were  merely 

To  drop  down  in  them  and  sleep. 


Appendix  227 

Our  kne"es  tremble  sorely  in  the  stooping, 

We  fall  upon  our  faces,  trying  to  go; 
And  underneath  our  heavy  eyelids  drooping, 

The  reddest  flower  would  look  as  pale  as  snow. 
For  all  day  we  drag  our  burden  tiring 

Through  the  coal-dark  underground; 
Or  all  day  we  drive  the  wheels  of  iron 

In  the  factories  round  and  round. 

"For  all  day  the  wheels  are  droning,  turning; 

Their  wind  comes  in  our  faces, 
Till  our  hearts  turn,  our  heads  with  pulses  burning, 

And  the  walls  turn  in  their  places; 
Turns  the  sky  in  high  window  blank  and  reeling, 

Turns  the  long  light  that  drops  adown  the  wall, 
Turn  the  black  flies  that  crawl  along  the  ceiling, 

All  are  turning,  all  the  day,  and  we  with  all; 
And  all  day  the  iron  wheels  are  droning 

And  sometimes  we  could  pray, 
'O,  ye   wheels'  (breaking  out  in  mad  moaning) 

'Stop!  be  silent  for  to-day!'  " 

Aye,  be  silent!     Let  them  hear  each  other  breathing 

For  a  moment  mouth  to  mouth! 
Let  them  touch  each  other's  hands  in  a  fresh  wreathing 

Of  their  tender  human  youth ! 
Let  them  feel  that  this  cold  metallic  motion 

Is  not  all  the  life  God  fashions  or  reveals! 
Let  them  prove  their  living  souls  against  the  notion 

That  they  live  in  you,  or  under  you,  O  wheels! 
Still,  all  day  the  iron  wheels  go  onward, 

Grinding  life  down  from  its  mark; 
And  the  children's  souls  which  God  is  calling  sunward 

Spin  on  blindly  in  the  dark. 


228  Appendix 

Now,  tell  the  poor  young  children,  Oh,  my  brothers, 

To  look  up  to  Him  and  pray; 
So  the  blessed  One  who  blesseth  all  the  others, 

Will  bless  them  another  day. 
They  answer,  "Who  is  God  that  he  should  hear  us, 

While  the  rushing  of  the  iron  wheels  is  stirr'd? 
When  we  sob  aloud  the  human  creatures  near  us 

Pass  by,  hearing  not,  or  answer  not,  a  word. 
And  we  hear  not  (for  the  wheels  in  their  resounding) 

Strangers  speaking  at  the  door; 
Is  it  likely  God,  with  angels  singing  round  him, 

Hears  our  weeping  any  more? 

"Two  words,  indeed,  of  praying  we  remember, 

And  at  midnight's  hour  of  harm, 
'Our  Father,'  looking  upward  in  the  chamber, 

We  say  softly  for  a  charm. 
We  know  no  other  words  except  'Our  Father,' 

And  we  think  that,  in  some  pause  of  the  angels'  song, 
God  may  pluck  them  with  the  silence  sweet  to  gather, 

And  hold  both  within  his  right  hand  which  is  strong. 
'Our  Father!'     If  he  heard  us  he  would  surely 

(For  they  call  him  good  and  mild) 
Answer,  smiling  down  the  steep  world  very  purely, 

'Come  and  rest  with  me,  my  child.'  " 

"But  no!"  say  the  children,  weeping  faster, 

"He  is  speechless  as  a  stone; 
And  they  tell  us,  of  his  image  is  the  master 

Who  commands  us  to  work  on. 
Go  to,"  say  the  children,  "up  in  heaven, 

Dark,  wheel-like  turning  clouds  are  all  we  find. 
Do  not  mock  us;  grief  has  made  us  unbelieving; 

We  look  up  for  God,  but  tears  have  made  us  blind." 


Appendix  229 

Do  you  hear  the  children  weeping  and  disproving, 

Oh,  my  brothers,  what  ye  preach? 
For  God's  possible  is  taught  by  his  world's  loving, 

And  the  children  doubt  of  each. 

And  well  may  the  children  weep  before  you ! 

They  are  weary  ere  they  run; 
They  have  never  seen  the  sunshine,  nor  the  glory 

Which  is  brighter  than  the  sun. 
They  know  the  grief  of  man  without  its  wisdom ;    • 

They  sink  in  man's  despair  without  its  calm; 
Are  slaves,  without  the  liberty  in  Christendom; 

Are  martyrs,  by  the  pang  without  the  palm; 
Are  worn  as  if  with  age,  yet  unretrievingly 

The  harvest  of  its  memories  cannot  reap — 
Are  orphans  of  the  earthly  love  and  heavenly 

Let  them  weep!     Let  them  weep! 
They  look  up  with  their  pale  and  sunken  faces 

And  their  look  is  dread  to  see, 
For  they  mind  you  of  their  angels  in  high  places 

With  eyes  turned  on  Deity. 
"How  long,"  they  say,  "How  long,  O  cruel  nation, 

Will  you  stand  to  move  the  world,  on  a  child's  heart — 
Stifle  down  with  a  mailed  heel  its  palpitation, 

And  tread  onward  to  your  throne  amid  the  mark? 
Our  blood  splashes  upward,  O  gold-heaper, 

And  your  purple  shows  your  path! 
But  the  child's  sob  in  the  silence  curses  deeper 

Than  the  strong  man  in  his  wrath. 


230  Appendix 


VIII.     LORD    PALMERSTON 
THE  MORAL  INFLUENCE  OF  ENGLAND 

[In  March,  1849,  Lord  Palmerston  dilated  as  follows  upon 
the  moral  greatness  and  influence  of  England.] 

I  say,  in  contradiction  to  the  honorable  gentleman, 
that  this  country  does  stand  well  with  the  great  majority 
of  the  foreign  powers;  that  the  character  of  this  country 
stands  high;  that  the  moral  influence  of  England  is 
great — a  moral  influence  that  I  do  not  take  credit  to  this 
government  for  having  created,  but  which  is  founded  on 
the  good  sense  and  the  wise  and  enlightened  conduct  of 
the  British  nation.  Foreign  countries  have  seen  that  in 
the  midst  of  the  events  which  have  violently  convulsed 
other  countries  in  Europe,  and  which  have  shaken  to  their 
foundations  ancient  institutions,  this  country  has  held  fast 
to  her  ancient  landmarks,  standing  firm  in  her  pride  of 
place : 

Fell  not,  but  stands  unshaken,  from  within, 
Or  from  without,  'gainst  all  temptations  armed. 

That  has  given  confidence  to  foreign  countries  in  the  gov- 
ernment and  people  of  this  country.  When  other 
monarchies  were  shaken  to  their  very  foundations,  Eng- 
land stood  unhurt,  by  its  evident  security  giving  confidence 
to  other  powers.  They  have  seen  that  the  government 
of  England  is  not  like  that  of  other  countries,  struggling 
for  its  existence,  and  occupied  in  guarding  against  daily 
dangers.  They  have  seen  that  the  British  Constitution 
acts  in  unison  with  the  spirit  of  the  nation,  with  whose 
interests  it  is  charged.  They  know  that  its  advice  is 


Appendix  23 1 

worthy  of  being  listened  to;  and  that  advice  is  valued  and 
respected,  and  is  not  spurned  with  contumely,  as  the 
honorable  member  would  wish  us  to  suppose. 


THE  "CIVIS  ROMANUS"  SPEECH 

[Nothing  which  Lord  Palmerston  ever  said  or  did  made 
more  for  his  popularity  and  reputation  than  the  closing  passage 
of  his  speech  in  the  Commons  in  the  "  Don  Pacifico  "  debate  in 
June,  1850.  He  had  been  speaking  for  five  hours,  and  it  was 
almost  morning  when  he  flung  out  these  high-spirited  words.] 

I  believe  I  have  now  gone  through  all  the  heads  of  the 
charges  which  have  been  brought  against  me  in  this  debate. 
I  think  I  have  shown  that  the  foreign  policy  of  the  gov- 
ernment in  all  the  transactions  with  respect  to  which  its 
conduct  has  been  impugned,  has  throughout  been  guided 
by  those  principles  which,  according  to  the  resolution  of 
the  honorable  and  learned  gentleman,  ought  to  regulate 
the  conduct  of  the  government  of  England  in  the  manage- 
ment of  our  foreign  affairs.  I  believe  that  the  principles 
on  which  we  have  acted  are  those  which  are  held  by  the 
great  mass  of  the  people  of  this  country.  I  am  convinced 
these  principles  are  calculated,  so  far  as  the  influence  of 
England  may  properly  be  exercised  with  respect  to  the 
destinies  of  other  countries,  to  conduce  to  the  mainte- 
nance of  peace,  to  the  advancement  of  civilization,  to  the 
welfare  and  happiness  of  mankind. 

I  do  not  complain  of  the  conduct  of  those  who  have 
made  these  matters  the  means  of  attack  upon  her  Majesty's 
ministers.  The  government  of  a  great  country  like  this 
is,  undoubtedly,  an  object  of  fair  and  legitimate  ambition 
to  men  of  all  shades  of  opinion.  It  is  a  noble  thing  to  be 


232  Appendix 

allowed  to  guide  the  policy  and  to  influence  the  destiny 
of  such  a  country;  and  if  ever  it  was  an  object  of  honor- 
able ambition,  more  than  ever  must  it  be  so  at  the  moment 
at  which  I  am  speaking.  For  while  we  have  seen,  as 
stated  by  the  right  honorable  baronet,  the  political  earth- 
quake rocking  Europe  from  side  to  side;  while  we  have 
seen  thrones  shaken,  shattered,  leveled,  institutions  over- 
thrown and  destroyed;  while  in  almost  every  country  of 
Europe  the  conflict  of  civil  war  has  deluged  the  land  with 
blood,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Black  Sea,  from  the  Baltic 
to  the  Mediterranean,  this  country  has  presented  a  spec- 
tacle honorable  to  the  people  of  England  and  worthy  of 
the  admiration  of  mankind. 

We  have  shown  that  liberty  is  compatible  with  order; 
that  individual  freedom  is  reconcilable  with  obedience  to 
the  law.  "We  have  shown  the  example  of  a  nation  in 
which  every  class  of  society  accepts  with  cheerfulness  the 
lot  which  Providence  has  assigned  to  it,  while  at  the  same 
time  every  individual  of  each  class  is  constantly  striving 
to  raise  himself  in  the  social  scale  not  by  injustice  and 
wrong,  not  by  violence  and  illegality,  but  by  persevering 
good  conduct,  and  by  the  steady  and  energetic  exertion 
of  the  moral  and  intellectual  faculties  with  which  his 
Creator  has  endowed  him.  To  govern  such  a  people  as 
this  is  indeed  an  object  worthy  of  the  ambition  of  the 
noblest  man  who  lives  in  the  land,  and  therefore  I  find 
no  fault  with  those  who  may  think  any  opportunity  a  fair 
one  for  endeavoring  to  place  themselves  in  so  distinguished 
and  honorable  a  position;  but  I  contend  that  we  have  not 
in  our  foreign  policy  done  anything  to  forfeit  the  confi- 
dence of  the  country.  We  may  not,  perhaps,  in  this 
matter  or  in  that,  have  acted  precisely  up  to  the  opinions 


Appendix  233 

of  one  person  or  of  another;  and  hard  indeed  it  is,  as  we 
all  know  by  our  individual  and  private  experience,  to  find 
any  number  of  men  agreeing  entirely  in  any  matter  on 
which  they  may  not  be  equally  possessed  of  the  details  of 
the  facts,  circumstances,  reasons,  and  conditions  which 
led  to  action.  But  making  allowance  for  those  differ- 
ences of  opinion  which  may  fairly  and  honorably  arise 
among  those  who  concur  in  general  views,  I  maintain  that 
the  principles  which  can  be  traced  through  all  our  foreign 
transactions,  as  the  guiding  rule  and  directing  spirit  of 
our  proceedings,  are  such  as  deserve  approbation. 

I  therefore  fearlessly  challenge  the  verdict  which  this 
House,  as  representing  a  political,  a  commercial,  a  con- 
stitutional country,  is  to  give  on  the  question  now  brought 
before  it — whether  the  principles  on  which  the  foreign 
policy  of  her  Majesty's  government  has  been  conducted, 
and  the  sense  of  duty  which  has  led  us  to  think  ourselves 
bound  to  afford  protection  to  our  fellow-subjects  abroad, 
are  proper  and  fitting  guides  for  those  who  are  charged 
with  the  government  of  England;  and  whether,  as  the 
Roman  in  days  of  old  held  himself  free  from  indignity 
when  he  could  say,  Civis  Romanus  sum,  so  also  a  British 
subject,  in  whatever  land  he  may  be,  shall  feel  confident 
that  the  watchful  eye  and  the  strong  arm  of  England  will 
protect  him  against  injustice  and  wrong. 


234  Appendix 

\ 

THE    SEPOY    MUTINY 
THE  DEFENSE  OF  LUCKNOW 

[Tennyson's  poem  was  inspired  by  the  recital  of  one  of  the 
most  notable  features  of  the  Great  Mutiny.] 

I 

Banner  of  England,  not  for  a  season,  O  banner  of  Britain, 

hast  thou 

Floated  in  conquering  battle,  or  flapped  to  the  battle-cry! 
Never  with  mightier  glory  than  when  we  had  reared  thee 

on  high 

Flying  at  top  of  the  roofs  in  the  ghastly  siege  of  Lucknow — 
Shot  thro'  the  staff  or  the  halyard,  but  ever  we   raised 

thee  anew, 
And  ever  upon  our  topmost  roof  our  banner  of  England  blew. 

II 

Frail  were  the  works  that  defended  the  hold  that  we  held 
with  our  lives — 

Women  and  children  among  us,  God  help  them,  our  chil- 
dren and  wives! 

Hold  it  we  might,  and  for  fifteen  days,  or  for  twenty  at  most. 

"Never  surrender,  I  charge  you,  but  every  man  die  at 
his  post!" 

Voice  of  the  dead  whom  we  loved,  our  Laurence,  the  best 
of  the  brave: 

Cold  were  his  brows  when  we  kissed  him— we  laid  him 
that  night  in  his  grave. 

"Every  man  die  at  his  post!"  and  there  halted  on  our 
houses  and  halls 

Death  from  their  rifle-bullets,  and  death  from  their  can- 
non-balls; 


Appendix  235 

Death  in  our  innermost  chamber,  and  death  at  our  slight 

barricade ; 
Death  while  we  stood  with  the  musket,  and  death  while  we 

stooped  to  the  spade; 
Death  to  the  dying,  and  wounds  to  the  wounded,  for  often 

there  fell, 
Striking  the  hospital  wall,  crashing  thro*  it,  their  shot  and 

their  shell; 
Death — for  their  spies  were  among  us,  their  marksmen 

were  told  of  our  best, 
So  that  the  brute  bullet  broke  thro'  the  brain  that  would 

think  for  the  rest; 
Bullets  would  sing  by  our  foreheads,  and  bullets  would 

rain  at  our  feet — 
Fire  from  ten  thousand  at  once  of  the  rebels  who  girdled 

us  round — 
Death  at  the  glimpse  of  a  finger  from  over  the  breadth  of 

a  street; 
Death  from  the  heights  of  the  mosque  and  the  palace,  and 

death  in  the  ground! 
Mine?     Yes,  a  mine.     Countermine!   down,  down!   and 

creep  thro'  the  hole! 

Keep  the  revolver  in  hand!  you  can  hear  him — the  mur- 
derous mole! 
Quiet,  ah!  quiet — wait  till  the  point  of  the  pick-ax  be 

thro' ! 
Click  with  the  pick  coming  nearer  and  nearer  again  than 

before — 
Now  let  it  speak,  and  you  fire,  and  the  dark  pioneer  is  no 

more; 
And  ever  upon  our  topmost  roof  our  banner  of  England 

blew. 


236  Appendix 


III 

Aye,   but  the  foe  sprung  his  mine  many  times,  and  it 

chanced  on  a  day 
Soon  as  the  blast  of  that  underground  thunder-clap  echoed 

away, 
Dark   thro'   the   smoke  and  the  sulphur,    like  so  many 

fiends  in  their  hell, 
Cannon-shot,  musket-shot,  volley  on  volley,  and  yell  upon 

yell- 
Fiercely  on  all  the  defenses  our  myriad  enemy  fell. 
What  have  they  done?     Where  is  it?     Out  yonder,  guard 

the  Redan! 
Storm  at  the  water-gate !  storm  at  the  Bailey-gate !  storm ! 

and  it  ran 

Surging  and  swaying  all  round  us,  as  ocean  on  every  side 
Plunges  and  heaves  at  a  bank  that  is  daily  drowned  by  the 

tide- 
So  many  thousands,  that  if  they  be  bold  enough,  who  shall 

escape? 

Kill  or  be  killed,  live  or  die,  they  shall  know  we  are  sol- 
diers and  men! 
Ready !  take  aim  at  their  leaders — their  masses  are  gapped 

with  our  grape — 
Backward  they  reel  like  the  wave,  like  the  wave  flinging 

forward  again, 
Flying  and  foiled  at  the  last  by  the  handful  they  could  not 

subdue ; 
And  ever  upon  our  topmost  roof  our  banner  of  England 

blew. 


Appendix  237 


IV 

Handful  of  men  as  we  "were,  we  were  English  in  heart  and 

in  limb, 
Strong  with  the  strength  of  the  race,   to  command,   to 

obey,  to  endure, 
Each  of  us  fought  as  if  hope  for  the  garrison  hung  but  on 

him; 
Still,  could  we  watch  at  all  points?     We  were  every  day 

fewer  and  fewer. 
There  was  a  whisper  among  us,  but  only  a  whisper  that 

passed : 
"Children  and  wives — if  the  tigers   leap  into    the  fold 

unawares — 
Every  man  die  at  his  post — and  the  foe  may  outlive  us  at 

last — 
Better  to  fall  by  the  hands  that  they  love,  than  to  fall  into 

theirs." 
Roar  upon  roar  in  a  moment,  two  mines  by  the  enemy 

sprung, 

Clove  into  perilous  chasms  our  walls  and  our  poor  pali- 
sades, 
Rifleman,  true  is  your  heart,  but  be  sure  that  your  hand 

be  as  true! 
Sharp  is  the  fire  of  assault,  better  aimed  are  your  flank 

fusillades — 
Twice  do  we  hurl  them  to  earth  from  the  ladders  to  which 

they  had  clung, 
Twice  from  the  ditch  where  they  shelter,  we  drive  them 

with  hand-grenades; 

And  ever  upon  our  topmost  roof  our  banner  of  England 
blew. 


23  8  Appendix 


V 

Then  on  another  wild  morning,  another  wild  earthquake 

out-tore, 
Clean  from  our  lines  of  defense  ten  or  twelve  good  paces 

or  more. 
Rifleman  high  on  the  roof,  hidden  there  from  the  light  of 

the  sun — 
One  has  leapt  upon  the  breach  crying  out,  "Follow  me, 

follow  me!" 

Mark  him — he  falls!  then  another,  and  down  goes  he. 
Had  they  been  bold  enough  then,  who  can  tell  but  the 

traitors  had  won? 
Boardings  and  rafters  and  doors!  an  embrasure!    make 

way  for  the  gun ! 
Now  double-charge  it  with  grape!  it  is  charged  and  we 

fire  and  they  run. 
Praise  to  our  Indian  brothers,  and  let  the  dark  face  have 

his  due! 
Thanks  to  the  kindly  dark    faces  who  fought  with  us, 

faithful  and  few, 
Fought  with  the  bravest  among  us,  and  drove  them,  and 

smote  them  and  slew, 
That  ever  upon  our  topmost  roof  our  banner  in  India  blew. 

VI 

Men  will  forget  what  we  suffer,  and  not  what  we  do;  we 

can  fight! 
But  to  be  soldier  all  day,  and  be  sentinel  all  thro'  the 

night — 


Appendix  239 

Ever  the  mine  and  assault,  our  sallies,  their  lying  alarms, 
Bugles  and  drums  in  the  darkness,  and  shoutings  and 

soundings  to  arms; 

Ever  the  labor  of  fifty  that  had  to  be  done  by  five ; 
Ever  the  marvel  among  us  that  one  should  be  left  alive ; 
Ever  the  day  with  its  traitorous  death  from  the  loopholes 

around ; 
Ever  the  night  with  its  coffinless  corpse  to  be  laid  in  the 

ground ; 

Heat  like  the  mouth  of  a  hell,  or  a  deluge  of  cataract  skies, 
Stench  of  old  offal  decaying,  and  infinite  torment  of  flies, 
Thoughts  of  the  breezes  of  May  blowing  over  an  English 

field, 
Cholera,  scurvy,  and  fever,  the  wound  that  would  not  be 

healed; 

Lopping  away  of  the  limb  by  the  pitiful,  pitiless  knife — 
Torture  and  trouble  in  vain — for  it  never  could  save  us  a 

life. 

Valor  of  delicate  women  who  tended  the  hospital  bed; 
Horror  of  women  in  travail  among  the  dying  and  dead; 
Grief  for  our  perishing  children,  and  never  a  moment  for 

grief, 

Toil  and  ineffable  weariness,  faltering  hopes  of  relief; 
Havelock  baffled,  or  beaten,  or  butchered  for  all  that  we 

knew — 
Then  day  and  night,  day  and  night  coming  down  on  the 

still  shatter 'd  walls 

Millions  of  musket-bullets  and  thousands  of  cannon-balls; 
But  ever  upon  the  topmost  roof  our  banner  of  England 

blew. 


240  Appendix 

VII 

Hark,  cannonade,  fusillade!  Is  it  true  what  was  told  by 
the  scout, 

Outram  and  Havelock  breaking  their  way  thro'  the  fell 
mutineers? 

Surely  the  pibroch  of  Europe  is  ringing  again  in  our  ears ! 

All  on  a  sudden  the  garrison  utter  a  jubilant  shout, 

Havelock 's  glorious  Highlanders  answer  with  conquering 
cheers, 

Sick  from  the  hospital  echo  them,  women  and  children 
come  out, 

Blessing  the  wholesome  white  faces  of  Havelock's  good 
fusileers, 

Kissing  the  war-hardened  hand  of  the  Highlander,  wet  with 
their  tears! 

Dance  to  the  pibroch!  Saved!  We  are  saved!  Is  it 
you?  Is  it  you? 

Saved  by  the  valor  of  Havelock;  saved  by  the  blessing  of 
heaven ! 

"Hold  it  for  fifteen  days!"  We  have  held  it  for  eighty- 
seven  ! 

And  ever  aloft  on  the  palace  roof  the  old  banner  of  Eng- 
land blew. 

THE  LIGHT  BRIGADE  AT  BALAKLAVA 

[In  a  letter  to  the  London  Times  Mr.  W.  H.  Russell,  the 
war  correspondent,  described  the  charge  of  the  Light  Brigade 
at  Balaklava,  one  of  the  most  notable  incidents  of  the  Crimean 
War.] 

Supposing  the  spectator,  then,  to  take  his  stand  on  one 
of  the  heights  forming  the  rear  of  our  camp  before  Sebas- 


Appendix  241 

topol,  he  would  have  seen  the  town  of  Balaklava,  with  its 
scanty  shipping,  its  narrow  strip  of  water,  and  its  old 
forts,  on  his  right  hand;  immediately  below  he  would  have 
beheld  the  valley  and  plain  of  coarse  meadowland,  occu- 
pied by  our  cavalry  tents,  and  stretching  from  the  base  of 
the  ridge  on  which  he  stood  to  the  foot  of  the  formidable 
heights  at  the  other  side;  he  would  have  seen  the  French 
trenches  lined  with  zouaves  a  few  feet  beneath,  and  dis- 
tant from  him,  on  the  slope  of  the  hill;  a  Turkish  redoubt 
lower  down,  then  another  in  the  valley,  then,  in  a  line 
with  it,  some  angular  earthworks;  then,  in  succession,  the 
other  two  redoubts  up  to  Canrobert's  Hill. 

At  the  distance  of  two  and  a  half  miles  across  the 
valley  is  an  abrupt  rocky  mountain  range  of  most  irregular 
and  picturesque  formation,  covered  with  scanty  brushwood 
here  and  there,  or  rising  into  barren  pinnacles  and  pla- 
teaux of  rock.  In  outline  and  appearance  this  portion  of 
the  landscape  was  wonderfully  like  the  Trosachs.  A 
patch  of  blue  sea  was  caught  in  between  the  overhanging 
cliffs  of  Balaklava  as  they  closed  in  the  entrance  to  the 
harbor  on  the  right.  The  camp  of  the  marines,  pitched 
on  the  hillsides  more  than  ten  hundred  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  sea,  was  opposite  to  the  spectator  as  his  back 
was  turned  to  Sebastopol  and  his  right  side  towards  Bala- 
klava  

Soon  after  occurred  the  glorious  catastrophe  which  filled 
us  all  with  sorrow.  It  appeared  that  the  Quartermaster- 
General,  Brigadier  Airey,  thinking  that  the  light  cavalry 
had  not  gone  far  enough  in  front  when  the  enemy's  horse 
had  fled,  gave  an  order  in  writing  to  Captain  Nolan, 
Fifteenth  Hussars,  to  take  to  Lord  Lucan,  directing  his 
lordship  "to  advance"  his  cavalry  nearer  to  the  enemy. 


242  Appendix 

A  braver  soldier  than  Captain  Nolan  the  army  did  not 

possess I  had  the  pleasure  of  his  acquaintance, 

and  I  know  he  entertained  the  most  exalted  opinions 
respecting  the  capabilities  of  the  English  horse  soldier. 
Properly  led,  the  British  hussar  and  dragoon  could,  in  his 
mind,  break  square,  take  batteries,  ride  over  columns  of 
infantry,  and  pierce  any  other  cavalry  in  the  world  as  if 
they  were  made  of  straw.  He  thought  they  had  not  had 
the  opportunity  of  doing  all  that  was  in  their  power,  and 
that  they  missed  even  such  chances  as  had  been  offered  to 
them — that,  in  fact,  they  were  in  some  measure  disgraced. 
A  matchless  horseman  and  a  first-rate  swordsman,  he  held 
in  contempt,  I  am  afraid,  even  grape  and  canister.  He 
rode  off  with  his  orders  to  Lord  Lucan. 

....  When  Lord  Lucan  received  the  order  from 
Captain  Nolan,  and  had  read  it,  he  asked,  we  are  told, 
"Where  are  we  to  advance  to?"  Captain  Nolan  pointed 
with  his  finger  to  the  line  of  the  Russians,  and  said, 
"There  are  the  enemy,  and  there  are  the  guns,"  or  words 
to  that  effect,  according  to  the  statements  made  after  his 
death. 

It  must  be  premised  that  Lord  Raglan  had  in  the  morn- 
ing only  ordered  Lord  Lucan  to  move  from  the  position 
he  had  taken  near  the  center  redoubt  to  "the  left  of  the 
second  line  of  redoubts  occupied  by  the  Turks."  Seeing 
that  the  ninety-third  and  invalids  were  cut  off  from  the 
aid  of  the  cavalry,  Lord  Raglan  sent  another  order  to 
Lord  Lucan  to  send  his  heavy  horse  towards  Balaklava, 
and  that  officer  was  executing  it  just  as  the  Russian  horse 
came  over  the  bridge.  The  heavy  cavalry  charge  took 
place,  and  afterwards  the  men  dismounted  on  the  scene 
of  it.  After  an  interval  of  half  an  hour,  Lord  Raglan 


Appendix  243 

again  sent  an  order  to  Lord  Lucan:  "Cavalry  to  advance 
and  take  advantage  of  any  opportunity  to  recover  the 
heights.  They  will  be  supported  by  infantry,  which  has 
been  ordered  to  advance  upon  two  fronts."  Lord  Rag- 
lan',s  reading  of  this  order  is,  that  the  infantry  had  been 
ordered  to  advance  on  two  fronts;  but  no  such  interpre- 
tation is  borne  out  by  the  wording  of  the  order.  It  does 
not  appear  either  that  the  infantry  had  received  orders  to 
advance,  for  the  Duke  of  Cambridge  and  Sir  G.  Cathcart 
state  that  they  were  not  in  receipt  of  such  instruction. 
Lord  Lucan  advanced  his  cavalry  to  the  ridge,  close  to 
No.  5  redoubt,  and  while  there  received  from  Captain 
Nolan  an  order  which  is,  verbatim,  as  follows:  "Lord 
Raglan  wishes  the  cavalry  to  advance  rapidly  to  the  front, 
follow  the  enemy,  and  try  to  prevent  the  enemy  carrying 
away  the  guns;  troops  of  horse  artillery  may  accompany. 
French  cavalry  is  on  your  left.  Immediate." 

Lord  Lucan  with  reluctance  gave  the  order  to  Lord 
Cardigan  to  advance  upon  the  guns,  conceiving  that  his 

orders  compelled  him  to  do  so It  is  a  maxim  of 

war  that  "cavalry  never  act  without  a  support,"  that 
"infantry  should  be  close  at  hand  when  cavalry  carry 
guns,  as  the  effect  is  only  instantaneous,"  and  that  it  is 
necessary  to  have  on  the  flank  of  a  line  of  cavalry  some 
squadrons  in  column,  the  attack  on  the  flank  being  most 
dangerous.  The  only  support  our  light  cavalry  had  was 
the  reserve  of  heavy  cavalry  at  a  great  distance  behind 
them,  the  infantry  and  guns  being  far  in  the  rear.  There 
were  no  squadrons  in  column  at  all,  and  there  was  a  plain 
to  charge  over,  before  the  enemy's  guns  could  be  reached, 
of  a  mile  and  a  half  in  length. 

At  ten  minutes  past  eleven  our  light  cavalry  brigade 


244  Appendix 

advanced.  The  whole  brigade  scarcely  made  one  effec- 
tive regiment,  according  to  the  numbers  of  continental 
armies;  and  yet  it  was  more  than  we  could  spare.  As 
they  rushed  towards  the  front,  the  Russians  opened  on 
them  from  the  guns  in  the  redoubt  on  the  right,  with  vol- 
leys of  musketry  and  rifles.  They  swept  proudly  past, 
glittering  in  the  morning  sun  in  all  the  pride  and  splendor 
of  war.  .We  could  scarcely  believe  our  senses!  Surely 
that  handful  of  men  were  not  going  to  charge  an  army  in 
position?  ....  They  advanced  in  two  lines,  quickening 
their  pace  as  they  closed  towards  the  enemy.  A  more 
fearful  spectacle  was  never  witnessed  by  those  who,  with- 
out power  to  aid,  beheld  their  heroic  countrymen  rushing 
to  the  arms  of  death.  At  the  distance  of  twelve  hundred 
yards,  the  whole  line  of  the  enemy  belched  forth,  from 
thirty  iron  mouths,  a  flood  of  smoke  and  flame,  through 
which  hissed  the  deadly  balls.  Their  flight  was  marked 
by  instant  gaps  in  our  ranks,  by  dead  men  and  horses,  by 
steeds  flying  wounded  or  riderless  across  the  plain.  The 
first  line  was  broken — it  was  joined  by  the  second,  they 
never  halted  or  checked  their  speed  an  instant.  With 
diminished  ranks,  thinned  by  those  thirty  guns,  which  the 
Russians  had  laid  with  the  most  deadly  accuracy,  with  a 
halo  of  flashing  steel  above  their  heads,  and  with  a  cheer 
which  was  many  a  noble  fellow's  death-cry,  they  flew  into 
the  smoke  of  the  batteries;  but  ere  they  were  lost  to  view, 
the  plain  was  strewed  with  their  bodies  and  with  the  car- 
casses of  horses.  They  were  exposed  to  an  oblique  fire 
from  the  batteries  on  the  hills  on  both  sides,  as  well  as  to 
the  direct  fire  of  musketry. 

Through  the  clouds  of  smoke  we  could  see  their  sabres 
flashing  as  they  rode  up  to  the  guns  and  dashed  between 


Appendix  245 

them,  cutting  down  the  gunners  as  they  stood.  We  saw 
them  riding  through  the  guns,  as  I  have  said;  to  our 
delight  we  saw  them  returning,  after  breaking  through  a 
column  of  Russian  infantry,  and  scattering  them  like  chaff, 
when  the  flank  fire  of  the  battery  on  the  hill  swept  them 
down.  Wounded  men  and  dismounted  troopers  flying 
towards  us  told  the  sad  tale — demi-gods  could  not  have 
done  what  they  had  failed  to  do.  At  the  very  moment 
when  they  were  about  to  retreat  a  regiment  of  lancers  was 
hurled  upon  their  flank.  Colonel  Shewell,  of  the  Eighth 
Hussars,  whose  attention  was  drawn  to  them  by  Lieuten- 
ant Phillips,  saw  the  danger,  and  rode  his  few  men  straight 

at  them,  cutting  his  way  through  with  fearful  loss 

It  was  as  much  as  our  heavy  cavalry  brigade  could  do  to 
cover  the  retreat  of  the  miserable  remnants  of  that  band 
of  heroes  as  they  returned  to  the  place  they  had  so  lately 
quitted  in  all  the  pride  of  life.  At  thirty-five  minutes  past 
eleven  not  a  British  soldier,  except  the  dead  and  dying, 
was  left  in  front  of  these  bloody  Muscovite  guns. 


IX.     WILLIAM    EWART    GLADSTONE 

[In  1886,  Mr.  Gladstone,  being  then  in  his  seventy-seventh 
year,  brought  in  his  first  bill  for  Irish  Home  Rule.  The  won- 
derful series  of  speeches  in  its  behalf  was  closed  by  one  of 
great  power  on  the  night  of  June  yth.  It  was  already  clear  that 
the  secessions  from  the  Liberal  ranks  would  prevent  the  pas- 
sage of  the  bill  to  its  second  reading.  Just  before  the  division 
the  Prime  Minister  spoke.  The  extract  given  below  repro- 
duces his  final  appeal.] 


246  Appendix 

HOME  RULE  FOR  IRELAND 

This  is  the  earliest  moment  in  our  parliamentary  his- 
tory when  we  have  the  voice  of  Ireland  authentically 
expressed  in  our  hearing.  Majorities  of  Home  Rulers 
there  may  have  been  upon  other  occasions;  a  practical 
majority  of  Irish  members  never  has  been  brought 
together  for  such  a  purpose.  Now,  first,  we  can  under- 
stand her;  now,  first,  we  are  able  to  deal  with  her;  we 
are  able  to  learn  authentically  what  she  wants  and  wishes, 
what  she  offers  and  will  do;  and  as  we  ourselves  enter 
into  the  strongest  moral  and  honorable  obligations  by  the 
steps  which  we  take  in  this  House,  so  we  have  before  us 
practically  an  Ireland  under  the  representative  system  able 
to  give  us  equally  authentic  information,  able  morally  to 
convey  to  us  an  assurance  the  breach  and  rupture  of  which 

would  cover  Ireland  with  disgrace What  is  the 

case  of  Ireland  at  this  moment?  Have  honorable  gentle- 
men considered  that  they  are  coming  into  conflict  with  a 
nation?  Can  anything  stop  a  nation's  demand,  except  its 
being  proved  to  be  immoderate  and  unsafe?  But  here  are 
multitudes,  and  I  believe  millions  upon  millions,  out-of- 
doors,  who  feel  this  demand  to  be  neither  immoderate  nor 
unsafe.  In  our  opinion,  there  is  but  one  question  before 
us  about  this  demand.  It  is  as  to  the  time  and  circum- 
stance of  granting  it.  There  is  no  question  in  our  minds 
that  it  will  be  granted.  We  wish  it  to  be  granted  in  the 
mode  prescribed  by  Mr.  Burke.  Mr.  Burke  said,  in  his 
first  speech  at  Bristol: 

"  I  was  true  to  my  old-standing,  invariable  principle,  that  all 
things  which 'came  from  Great  Britain  should  issue  as  a  gift  of 
her  bounty  and  beneficence,  rather  than  as  claims  recovered 


Appendix  247 

against  struggling  litigants,  or  at  least  if  your  beneficence  ob- 
tained no  credit  in  your  concessions,  yet  that  they  should  ap- 
pear the  salutary  provisions  of  your  wisdom  and  foresight  not 
as  things  wrung  from  you  with  your  blood  by  the  cruel  gripe  of  a 
rigid  necessity." 

The  difference  between  giving  with  freedom  and  dig- 
nity on  the'  one  side,  with  acknowledgment  and  gratitude 
on  the  other,  and  giving  under  compulsion,  giving  with 
disgrace,  giving  with  resentment  dogging  you  at  every 
step  of  your  path,  this  difference  is,  in  our  eyes,  funda- 
mental, and  this  is  the  main  reason  not  only  why  we  have 
acted,  but  why  we  have  acted  now.  This,  if  I  under- 
stand it,  is  one  of  the  golden  moments  of  our  history- 
one  of  those  opportunities  which  may  come  and  may  go, 
but  which  rarely  return,  or,  if  they  return,  return  at  long 
intervals,  and  under  circumstances  which  no  man  can 
forecast. 

There  have  been  such  golden  moments  even  in  the 
tragic  history  of  Ireland,  as  her  poet  says — 

"One  time  the  harp  of  Innisfail 
Was  tuned  to  notes  of  gladness." 

And  then  he  goes  on  to  say — 

"  But  yet  did  oftener  tell  a  tale 
Of  more  prevailing  sadness." 

But  there  was  such  a  golden  moment — it  was  in  1795 — it 
was  on  the  mission  of  Lord  Fitzwilliam.  At  that  moment 
it  is  historically  clear  that  the  Parliament  of  Grattan  was 
on  the  point  of  solving  the  Irish  problem.  The  two  great 
knots  of  that  problem  were,  in  the  first  place,  Roman 
Catholic  emancipation;  and  in  the  second  place,  the 
Reform  of  Parliament.  The  cup  was  at  her  lips,  and  she 
was  ready  to  drink  it,  when  the  hand  of  England  rudely 


248  Appendix 

and  ruthlessly  dashed  it  to  the  ground  in  obedience  to  the 
wild  and  dangerous  intimations  of  an  Irish  faction. 

"  Ex  illo  fluere  ac  retro  sublapsa  referri, 
Spes  Danaum." 

There  has  been  no  great  day  of  hope  for  Ireland,  no  day 
when  you  might  hope  completely  and  definitely  to  end  the 
controversy,  till  now — more  than  ninety  years.  The  long 
periodic  time  has  at  last  run  out,  and  the  star  has  again 
mounted  into  the  heavens.  What  Ireland  was  doing  for 
herself  in  1795  we  at  length  have  done.  The  Roman 
Catholics  have  been  emancipated — emancipated  after  a 
woeful  disregard  of  solemn  promises  through  twenty-nine 
years,  emancipated  slowly,  sullenly,  not  from  good  will, 
but  from  abject  terror,  with  all  the  fruits  and  conse- 
quences which  will  always  follow  that  method  of  legisla- 
tion. The  second  problem  has  been  also  solved,  and  the 
representation  of  Ireland  has  been  thoroughly  reformed; 
and  I  am  thankful  to  say  that  the  franchise  was  given  to 
Ireland  on  the  readjustment  of  last  year  with  a  free  heart, 
with  an  open  hand,  and  the  gift  of  that  franchise  was  the 
last  act  required  to  make  the  success  of  Ireland  in  her 
final  effort  absolutely  sure.  We  have  given  Ireland  a 
voice;  we  must  all  listen  for  a  moment  to  what  she  says. 
We  must  all  listen — both  sides,  both  parties,  I  mean  as 
they  are,  divided  on  this  question — divided,  I  am  afraid, 
by  an  almost  immeasurable  gap.  We  do  not  undervalue 
or  despise  the  forces  opposed  to  us.  I  have  described 
them  as  the  forces  of  class  and  its  dependents;  and  that 
as  a  general  description — as  a  slight  and  rude  outline  of  a 
description — is,  I  believe,  perfectly  true.  I  do  not  deny 
that  many  are  against  us  whom  we  should  have  expected 
to  be  for  us.  I  do  not  deny  that  some  whom  we  see 


Appendix  249 

against  us  have  caused  us  by  their  conscientious  action 
the  bitterest  disappointment.  You  have  power,  you  have 
wealth,  you  have  rank,  you  have  station,  you  have  organi- 
zation. What  have  we?  We  think  that  we  have  the 
people's  heart;  we  believe  and  we  know  we  have  the 
promise  of  the  harvest  of  the  future.  As  to  the  people's 
heart,  you  may  dispute  it,  and  dispute  it  with  perfect 
sincerity.  Let  that  matter  make  its  own  proof.  As  to 
the  harvest  of  the  future,  I  doubt  if  you  have  so  much 
confidence,  and  I  believe  that  there  is  in  the  breast  of 
many  a  man  who  means  to  vote  against  us  to-night  a  pro- 
found misgiving  approaching  even  to  a  deep  conviction 
that  the  end  will  be  as  we  foresee,  and  not  as  you  do — 
that  the  ebbing  tide  is  with  you  and  the  flowing  tide  is 
with  us.  Ireland  stands  at  your  bar  expectant,  hopeful, 
almost  suppliant.  Her  words  are  the  words  of  truth  and 
soberness.  She  asks  a  blessed  oblivion  of  the  past,  and 
in  that  oblivion  our  interest  is  deeper  than  even  hers. 
My  right  honorable  friend,  the  member  for  East  Edin- 
burgh (Mr.  Goschen)  asks  us  to-night  to  abide  by  the 
traditions  of  which  we  are  the  heirs.  What  traditions? 
By  the  Irish  traditions?  Go  into  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  world,  ransack  the  literature  of  all  countries,  find, 
Jf  you  can,  a  single  voice,  a  single  book,  find,  I  would 
almost  say,  as  much  as  a  single  newspaper  article,  unless 
the  product  of  the  day,  in  which  the  conduct  of  England 
towards  Ireland  is  anywhere  treated  except  with  profound 
and  bitter  condemnation.  Are  these  the  traditions  by 
which  we  are  exhorted  to  stand?  No;  they  are  a  sad 
exception  to  the  glory  of  our  country.  They  are  a  broad 
and  black  blot  upon  the  pages  of  its  history ;  and  what  we 
want  to  do  is  to  stand  by  the  traditions  of  which  we  are 


250  Appendix 

the  heirs  in  all  matters  except  our  relations  with  Ireland, 
and  to  make  our  relations  with  Ireland  to  conform  to  the 
other  traditions  of  our  country.  So  we  treat  our  tradi- 
tions— so  we  hail  the  demand  of  Ireland  for  what  I  call  a 
blessed  oblivion  of  the  past.  She  asks  also  a  boon  for 
the  future;  and  that  boon  for  the  future,  unless  we  are 
much  mistaken,  will  be  a  boon  to  us  in  respect  of  honor, 
no  less  than  a  boon  to  her  in  respect  of  happiness,  pros- 
perity, and  peace.  Such,  sir,  is  her  prayer.  Think,  I 
beseech  you,  think  well,  think  wisely,  think  not  for  the 
moment,  but  for  the  years  that  are  to  come,  before  you 
reject  this  bill. 


IRISH    NATIONALIST    POETRY 

[From  the  abundance  of  poetry  which  has  been  inspired  by 
the  Irish  Nationalist  cause,  the  two  following  poems  have  been 
selected  as  characteristic.  The  first,  by  Michael  Scanlan,  has 
been  called  the  Marseillaise  of  the  Fenian  movement.  The 
second  is  by  Fanny  Parnell.] 

THE  FENIAN  MEN 

See  who  come  over  the  red-blossomed  heather, 

Their  green  banners  kissing  the  pure  mountain  air, 
Heads  erect,  eyes  to  front,  stepping  proudly  together, 

Sure  freedom  sits  throned  in  each  proud  spirit  there! 
Down  the  hills  twining, 
Their  blessed  steel  shining 

Like  rivers  of  beauty  they  flow  from  each  glen, 
From  mountain  and  valley,  'tis  liberty's  rally 

Out,  and  make  way  for  the  Fenian  Men! 


Appendix  251 

Our  prayers  and  our  tears  have  been  scoffed  and  derided, 

They've  shut  out  God's  sunlight  from  spirit  and  mind; 
Our  foes  were  united  and  we  were  divided, 

We  met,  and  they  scattered  us  all  to  the  wind; 
But  once  more  returning, 
Within  our  veins  burning 

The  fires  that  illumined  dark  Aherlou  glen, 
We  raise  the  old  cry  anew, 
Slogan  of  Con  and  Hugh, 

Out,  and  make  way  for  the  Fenian  Men! 

We  have  men  from  the  Nore,   from  the  Suir,  and  the 
Shannon ; 

Let  the  tyrants  come  forth,  we'll  bring  force  against 

force ; 
Our  pen  is  the  sword  and  our  voice  is  the  cannon, 

Rifle  for  rifle,  horse  against  horse. 
We've  made  the  false  Saxon  yield 
Many  a  red  battle-field, 

God  on  our  side  we  will  do  so  again; 
Pay  them  back  woe  for  woe, 
Give  them  back  blow  for  blow, 

Out,  and  make  way  for  the  Fenian  Men! 

Side  by  side  for  this  cause  have  our  forefathers  battled 

When  our  hills  never  echoed  the  treacl  of  a  slave; 
On  many  green  fields,  where  the  leaden  hail  rattled 

Thro'  the  red  gap  of  glory  they  marched  to  the  grave, 
And  we  who  inherit 
Their  names  and  their  spirit 

Will  march  'neath  our  banner  of  liberty;  then 
All  who  love  Saxon  law 
Native  or  Sassenah 

Out,  and  make  way  for  the  Fenian  Men ! 


252:  Appendix 

Up  for  the  cause,  then,  fling  forth  our  green  banners, 

From  the  east  to  the  west,  from  the  south  to  the  north- 
Irish  land,  Irish  men,  Irish  mirth,  Irish  manners — 

From  the  mansion  and  cot  let  the  slogan  go  forth; 
Sons  of  old  Ireland  now, 
Love  you  our  sireland  now? 

Come  from  the  kirk,  or  the  chapel,  or  glen; 
Down  with  all  faction  old; 
Concert  and  action  bold, 

This  is  the  creed  of  the  Fenian  Men! 


POST-MORTEM 

Shall  mine  eyes  behold  thy  glory,  O  my  country, 

Shall  mine  eyes  behold  thy  glory? 
Or  shall  the  darkness  close  around  them  ere  the  sun  blaze 

Break  at  last  upon  thy  story? 

When  the  nations  ope  for  thee  their  queenly  circle, 

As  a  sweet  new  sister  hail  thee, 
Shall  these  lips  be  sealed  in  callous  death  and  silence 

That  have  known  but  to  bewail  thee? 

Shall  the  ear  be  deaf  that  only  loved  thy  praises 

When  all  men  their  tribute  bring  thee? 
Shall  the  mouth  be  clay  that  sang  thee  in  thy  squalor 

When  all  poet's  mouths  shall  sing  thee? 

Ah,  the  harpings  and  the  salvos  and  the  shoutings 

Of  thy  exiled  sons  returning! 

I  should  hear  though  dead  and  moldered,  and  the  grave- 
damps 

Should  not  chill  my  bosom's  burning. 


Appendix  253 

Ah,  the  tramp  of  feet  victorious!     I  should  hear  them 

'Mid  the  shamrocks  and  the  mosses, 
And  my  heart  should  toll  within  the  shroud  and  quarter 

As  a  captive  dreamer  tosses. 

I  should  turn  and  rend  the  cere-clothes  round  me, 

Giant  sinews  I  should  borrow, 
Crying,  "Oh,  my  brothers,  I  have  also  loved  her, 

In  her  loneliness  and  sorrow. 

"Let  me  join  with  you  the  jubilant  procession, 

Let  me  chant  with  you  her  story; 
Then  contented  I  shall  go  back  to  the  shamrocks 

Now  mine  eyes  have  seen  her  glory." 


X.     LORD    BEACONSFIELD 

[The  speech  which  most  endeared  Disraeli  to  the  Tories 
was  delivered  in  the  House  of  Commons  January  22, 1846.  Peel 
had  just  declared  his  conversion  to  free  trade  and  his  inten- 
tion to  repeal  the  Corn  Law  duties,  when  Disraeli  rose  and  in 
behalf  of  the  unconverted  Tory  protectionists  poured  his  fire 
into  the  face  of  the  Prime  Minister.] 

Sir,  I  rise  with  some  feeling  of  embarrassment  to 
address  the  House  at  this  stage  of  the  debate,  as  it  is 
only  since  I  have  entered  the  House  that  I  have  had  the 
advantage  of  reading  her  Majesty's  speech;  and  I  had 
understood  that  the  great  question  which  now  agitates 
the  country  was  not  to  be  discussed  on  the  present  occa- 
sion  I  should  have  abstained  from  intruding 

myself  on  the  House  at  the  present  moment,  had  it  not 


254  Appendix 

been  for  the  peculiar  tone  of  the  right  honorable  gentle- 
man (Sir  Robert  Peel).  I  think  that  tone  ought  not  to 
pass  unnoticed.  At  the  same  time  I  do  not  wish  to  con- 
ceal my  opinions  on  the  general  subject.  I  am  not  one 
of  the  converts.  I  am,  perhaps,  a  member  of  a  fallen 
party.  To  the  opinions  which  I  have  expressed  in  this 
House  in  favor  of  protection  I  adhere.  They  sent  me  to 
this  House,  and  if  I  had  relinquished  them,  I  should  have 
relinquished  my  seat  also.  I  must  say  that  the  tone  of 
the  right  honorable  gentleman  is  hardly  fair  towards  the 
House,  while  he  stops  discussion  upon  a  subject  on  which 
he  himself  has  entered  and  given  vent  to  his  feelings  with 
a  fervency  unusual  to  him.  Sir,  I  admire  a  minister  who 
says  he  holds  power  to  give  effect  to  his  own  convictions. 
These  are  sentiments  that  we  must  all  applaud.  Unfor- 
tunate will  be  the  position  of  this  country  when  a  minister 
pursues  a  line  of  policy  adverse  to  the  convictions  which 
he  himself  entertains.  But  when  we  come  to  a  question 
of  such  high  delicacy  as  the  present,  we  may  be  permitted 
to  ask  ourselves  what  are  the  circumstances  which  require 
one  so  able,  and  one  so  eminent,  to  enter  upon  the  vindi- 
cation of  himself,  and  to  rise  in  this  House,  amid  the 
cheers  of  his  former  opponents,  to  place  himself  in  a 
position  of  an  apologetical  character  to  those  who  were 
once  of  his  own  party?  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  right 
honorable  gentleman  has  arrived  at  a  conscientious  con- 
clusion on  this  great  subject.  The  right  honorable  gentle- 
man says  that  it  is  not  so  much  by  force  of  argument  as 
by  the  cogency  of  observation  that  he  has  arrived  at  this 
conclusion.  But,  sir,  surely  the  observation  which  the 
right  honorable  gentleman  has  made  might  have  been 
made  when  he  filled  a  post  scarcely  less  considerable  than 


Appendix  255 

that  which  he  now  occupies,  and  enjoyed  power  scarcely 
less  ample  than  that  which  he  now  wields  in  this  House. 
I  want  to  know  how  it  is  that  the  right  honorable  gentle- 
man, who  certainly  enjoys  the  full  maturity  of  manhood, 
should  not  have  arrived  at  this  opinion,  which  I  deplore, 
although  conscientious,  at  the  moment  when  his  present 
government  was  formed!  What,  sir,  are  we  to  think  of 
the  eminent  statesman  who,  having  served  under  four 
sovereigns;  unable  to  complain  of  want  of  experience  or 
royal  confidence;  who,  having  been  called  on  to  steer  the 
ship  on  so  many  occasions,  and  under  such  perilous  cir- 
cumstances, has  only  during  the  last  three  years  found  it 
necessary  entirely  to  change  his  convictions  on  that  impor- 
tant topic  which  must  have  presented  itself  for  more  than 
a  quarter  of  a  century  to  his  consideration? 

Sir,  I  must  say  that  such  a  minister  may  be  conscien- 
tious, but  that  he  is  unfortunate.  I  will  say,  also,  that 
he  ought  to  be  the  last  man  in  the  world  to  turn  round 
and  upbraid  his  party  in  a  tone  of  menace.  Sir,  there  is 
a  difficulty  in  finding  a  parallel  to  the  position  of  the  right 
honorable  gentleman  in  any  part  of  history.  The  only 
parallel  which  I  can  find  is  an  incident  in  the  late  war  in 

the  Levant I  remember  when  that  great  struggle 

was  taking  place,  when  the  existence  of  the  Turkish 
empire  was  at  stake,  the  late  Sultan,  a  man  of  great 
energy  and  fertile  in  resources,  was  determined  to  fit  out 
an  immense  fleet  to  maintain  his  empire.  Accordingly  a 
vast  armament  was  collected.  It  consisted  of  some  of 
the  finest  ships  that  were  ever  built.  The  crews  were 
picked  men,  the  officers  were  the  ablest  that  could  be 
found,  and  both  officers  and  men  were  rewarded  before 
they  fought.  There  never  was  an  armament  which  left 


256  Appendix 

the  Dardanelles  similarly  appointed  since  the  days  of  Soly- 
man  the  Great.  The  Sultan  personally  witnessed  the 
departure  of  the  fleet;  all  the  muftis  prayed  for  the  suc- 
cess of  the  expedition,  as  all  the  muftis  here  prayed  for 
the  success  of  the  last  general  election.  Away  went  the 
fleet,  but  what  was  the  Sultan's  consternation  when  the 
Lord  High  Admiral  steered  at  once  into  the  enemy's  port! 
Now,  sir,  the  Lord  High  Admiral  on  that  occasion  was 
very  much  misrepresented.  He,  too,  was  called  a  traitor, 
and  he,  too,  vindicated  himself.  "True  it  is,"  said  he, 
"I  did  place  myself  at  the  head  of  this  valiant  armada; 
true  it  is  that  my  sovereign  embraced  me;  true  it  is  that 
all  the  muftis  in  the  empire  offered  up  prayers  for  my  suc- 
cess; but  I  have  an  objection  to  war.  I  see  no  use  in 
prolonging  the  struggle,  and  the  only  reason  I  had  for 
accepting  the  command  was  that  I  might  terminate  the 
contest  by  betraying  my  master."  .... 

Well,  now,  the  right  honorable  gentleman  has  turned 
round  on  us,  and  in  a  peroration,  the  elaborate  character 
of  which  remarkably  contrasted  with  the  garrulous  confi- 
dence of  all  the  doings  of  his  cabinet,  the  right  honorable 
gentleman  told  us  that  he  had  been  assured  that  a  certain 
power  had  made  him  minister,  and  that  a  certain  power 
would  prevent  him  from  being  a  minister;  but  that  he 
protested  against  such  an  authority,  and  that  he  never 
would  hold  office  by  so  servile  a  tenure.  Sir,  no  one  can 
fill  a  position  such  as  that  of  the  right  honorable  gentle- 
man and  give  utterance  to  sentiments  so  magnanimous  as 
his  without  reference  to  antecedents.  And  that  leads  us 
to  the  consideration  of  that  government  by  parties,  which 
must  never  be  lost  sight  of  in  estimating  the  position  of 
the  right  honorable  gentleman.  It  is  all  very  well  for  the 


Appendix  257 

right  honorable  gentleman  to  say,  "I  am  the  First  Minis- 
ter"— and  by  the  by,  I  think  the  right  honorable  gentle- 
man might  as  well  adopt  the  phraseology  of  Walpole,  and 
call  himself  the  sole  minister,  for  his  speech  was  rich  in 
egoistic  rhetoric — it  is  all  very  well  for  him  to  speak  of 
himself  as  the  sole  minister,  for  as  all  his  cabinet  voted 
against  him,  he  is  quite  right  not  to  notice  them.  I 
repeat,  it  is  all  very  well  for  the  right  honorable  gentle- 
man to  come  forward  to  this  table  and  say,  "I  am  think- 
ing of  posterity,  although  certainly  I  am  doing  on  this 
side  of  the  table  the  contrary  to  that  which  I  counseled 
when  I  stood  upon  the  other;  but  my  sentiments  are  mag- 
nanimous, my  aim  is  heroic,  and  appealing  to  posterity, 
I  care  neither  for  your  cheers  nor  your  taunts." 

But,  sir,  we  must  ask  ourselves,  as  members  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  as  the  subjects  of  a  popular  govern- 
ment— we  must  ask  ourselves,  what  were  the  means,  what 
the  machinery,  by  which  the  right  honorable  gentleman 
acquired  his  position,  how  he  obtained  power  to  turn 
round  upon  his  supporters,  and  to  treat  them  with  con- 
tempt and  disdain?  Sir,  the  right  honorable  gentleman 
has  supported  a  different  policy  for  a  number  of  years. 
Well  do  we  remember  on  this  side  of  the  House — perhaps 
not  without  a  blush — well  do  we  remember  the  efforts 
which  we  made  to  raise  him  to  the  bench  on  which  he 
now  sits.  Who  does  not  remember  the  "sacred  cause  of 
protection, "  the  cause  for  which  sovereigns  were  thwarted, 
Parliaments  dissolved,  and  a  nation  taken  in?  Delightful, 
indeed,  to  have  the  right  honorable  gentleman  entering 
into  all  his  confidential  details,  when,  to  use  his  courtly 
language,  he  "called"  upon  his  sovereign.  Sir,  he  called 
on  his  sovereign;  but  would  his  sovereign  have  called  on 


258  Appendix 

the  right  honorable  baronet,  if,  in  1841,  he  had  not  placed 
himself,  as  he  said,  at  the  head  of  the  gentlemen  of  Eng- 
land— that  well-known  position,  to  be  preferred  even  to 
the  confidence  of  sovereigns  and  courts?  It  is  all  very 
well  for  the  right  honorable  baronet  to  take  this  high-flying 
course,  but  I  think  myself,  I  say  it  with  great  respect 
for  gentlemen  on  this  side  of  the  House,  and  gentlemen 
on  the  other;  I  say  it  without  any  wish  to  achieve  a  party 
triumph,  for  I  believe  I  belong  to  a  party  which  can 
triumph  no  more,  for  we  have  nothing  left  on  our  side 
except  the  constituencies  which  we  have  betrayed;  but  I 
do  say  my  conception  of  a  great  statesman  is  of  one  who 
represents  a  great  idea — an  idea  which  may  lead  him  to 
power;  an  idea  with  which  he  may  identify  himself;  an 
idea  which  he  may  develop;  an  idea  which  he  may  and 
can  impress  on  the  mind  and  conscience  of  a  nation. 
That,  sir,  is  my  notion  of  what  makes  a  man  a  great 
statesman.  I  do  not  care  whether  he  be  a  manufacturer 
or  a  manufacturer's  son.  That  is  a  grand,  that  is  indeed 
an  heroic,  position.  But  I  care  not  what  may  be  the 
position  of  a  man  who  never  originates  an  idea — a  watcher 
of  the  atmosphere,  a  man  who,  as  he  says,  takes  his 
observations,  and  when  he  finds  the  wind  in  a  certain 
quarter,  trims  to  suit  it.  Such  a  person  may  be  a  power- 
ful minister,  but  he  is  no  more  a  great  statesman  than  the 
man  who  gets  up  behind  a  carriage  is  a  great  whip.  Both 
are  disciples  of  progress;  both  perhaps  may  get  a  good 
place.  But  how  far  the  original  momentum  is  indebted 
to  their  powers,  and  how  far  their  guiding  prudence  regu- 
lates the  lash  or  the  rein,  it  is  not  necessary  for  me  to 
notice. 


Appendix  259 


THE  EMPIRE 

[Rudyard  Kipling's  long  poem  "A  Song  of  the  English," 
and  the  shorter,  "White  Man's  Burden,"  may  be  read  in  con- 
nection with  this  topic;  but  nothing  better  asserts  the  imperial 
idea  than  the  lines  written  by  Tennyson  at  the  request  of  the 
Prince  of  Wales  (Edward  VII.)  for  the  opening  of  the  Indian 
and  Colonial  Exhibition  in  1886.] 

I 

Welcome,  welcome  with  one  voice! 
In  your  welfare  we  rejoice, 
Sons  and  brothers  that  have  sent, 
From  isle  and  cape  and  continent, 
Produce  of  your  field  and  flood, 
Mount  and  mine  and  primal  wood; 
Works  of  subtle  brain  and  hand, 
And  splendors  of  the  morning  land, 
Gifts  from  every  British  zone; 
Britons,  hold  your  own! 

II 

May  we  find,  as  ages  run, 
The  mother  featured  in  the  son; 
And  may  yours  forever  be 
That  old  strength  and  constancy 
Which  has  made  your  fathers  great 
In  our  ancient  island  state; 
And  wherever  her  flag  fly, 
Glorying  between  sea  and  sky, 
Makes  the  might  of  Britain  known, 
Britons,  hold  your  own! 


260  Appendix 


III 

Britain  fought  her  sons  of  yore — 
Britain  failed;  and  nevermore, 
Careless  of  our  growing  kin, 
Shall  we  sin  our  fathers'  sin; 
Men  that  in  a  narrower  day — 
Unprophetic  rulers  they — 
Drove  from  out  the  mother's  nest 
That  young  eagle  of  the  West 
To  forage  for  herself  alone; 
Britons,  hold  your  own! 

IV 

Sharers  of  our  glorious  past, 

Brothers,  must  we  part  at  last? 

Shall  we  not  thro'  good  and  ill 

Cleave  to  one  another  still? 

Britain's  myriad  voices  call, 

"Sons,  be  welded,  each  and  all, 

Into  one  imperial  whole, 

One  with  Britain,  heart  and  soul! 

One  life,  one  flag,  one  fleet,  one  thrones 

Britons,  hold  your  own! 


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